Taking a Break
by Teh Dipstick
Summary: Dr. Drakken and Shego have always had hidden feelings for each other. Will going on a vacation together change anything? First in my story arch, and I want to thank Sarah Foster for all her help.
1. Another Day, Another Rant

"Kim Possible!" A raspy voice shattered the silence that filled the large building. "I hate her! Hate her! Do you hear me, Shego?!" The man who owned the voice was tall with black hair and a scar under his left eye, both of which had dark circles around them. He was also clad in a dark blue lab coat and had a monobrow. His most dominating physical attribute was his blue skin however. His real name was Drew Theodore P. Lipsky but most people knew him as the evil Dr. Drakken.

"Loud and clear, doc." a woman answered. Her pale skin had a light green tint to it, but it looked healthier than Drakken's blue skin. Her long, flowing hair was jet black and she was dressed in a black and green jumpsuit with matching gloves and boots. She actually looked quite beautiful.

"She always ruins my plans! I've had it up to here with her and the annoying boy… What's-his-face!" Drakken continued. "But I'll have my sweet revenge yet Shego, and then nothing can stop me… not even that weird little thing the boy keeps in his pocket."  
"That would be a mole rat." Shego replied smugly. "It's not like it's a secret weapon or anything, it's just a nude rodent." she said while she continued to sharpen the claws on her gloves with a nail file.

"Whatever!" Drakken replied, his face being in its usual scowl. "I'm retiring to my room. Maybe I'll come up with some unfoilable plan in my sleep. Good night Shego… oh and remember to turn off the lights when you're done. The new lair is a big place and I'm not made out of money."  
"Unfoilable isn't an actual word, you know!" she shouted after him as he left the room. She gave a little smile as she heard him grumble behind the closing mechanical door.

Shego continued filing her clawed gloves while she thought about certain things. Mainly her relationship with her employer. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but there was sort of a bond between her and Drakken. A silent understanding so to say. He'd make his rant and she interrupt him with snarky remarks. Then he'd throw one of his hissy-fits, growling and making threats, all to her amusement. She thought it was… cute.

She loved the fact that she could get him so riled up and how he could do nothing in return. Sure he'd make threats but he'd never follow through on them. It wasn't that Shego thought he couldn't do it. He just wouldn't. He needed her. After all, he was a thinker and not a fighter, as he'd told her several times. Of the two Shego was the one to be feared in hand-to-hand combat. She was a skilled fighter and her razor sharp claws and super powers only enhanced her fearsome repertoire.

Drakken, however, didn't like fighting. He had no problems watching Shego deal out damage but he didn't want to end up in a fistfight himself, which was one of the reasons he hired the henchwoman in the first place. He wasn't weak. In fact Shego had herself seen that he was in quite good shape. He often lifted heavy objects around by himself. Her biggest proof, however, came when he had to be topless when they shot the commercial for Drakken's brainwashing shampoo 'Lather, Rinse and Obey'. He didn't have abs one could grate cheese on but still, he was surprisingly toned. The doctor actually had biceps.


	2. Thoughts in The Night

Dr. Drakken, meanwhile, had made himself ready for bed. Usually he stayed up a few hours after Shego'd gone to her room, finishing up any loose strings of that day's work. Not tonight. He was tired. Unusually tired, but not sleepy. He'd tried to fall asleep at first, but to no avail. For some reason he wasn't able to free his mind, letting sleep overtake him, so he just lay there thinking. He often spoke about his past, much to Shego's annoyance, but there were some things he wouldn't even share with her. He smiled at the thought of his assistant. Sure she could be quite a pain, mocking him and just not following orders. There were these moments though, when she could be very… "Pleasant." Drakken whispered the word to himself.

She'd share things with him. Not everything of course, but that was to be expected. He didn't share everything with her either. The "No secrets" rule referred to things that wasn't hard to talk about. Often she'd act very nice towards him, in her own way. She'd come with him to karaoke night, even though it wasn't in her contract and she didn't like it one bit. They'd also have a lot of meaningful conversations. Ones that didn't consist of arguing and snapping at each other.

After a while of thinking he came to the conclusion that Shego was his friend. His best friend. His only friend. In the past the friends he'd made had, at some point, turned against him. The few he made in elementary school, junior high, and high school had all ended up either siding with the bullies that tormented him, or just left him because he wasn't popular. He'd gotten some new friends in college, a posse as he called it, but they drove him away by making fun of him as well. It had been impossible to make new friends after that, until she came along. She made fun as well, but not at the same level. She'd never called him a failure, or a loser. She stuck with him.

Finally, after having been laying awake in bed for nearly four hours, Drakken fell asleep. He was clenching a teddy bear under the covers while he snored lightly. Some people sound like a car engine or chainsaw when they snore, but not him. He was clad in light blue pajamas and his hair was still in its ponytail. The large bed was completely circular in shape, with red covers. It was positioned in the middle of a dark, grotto-like room. A faded green light coming from a deep moat around the bed was the only thing that kept the room from being in complete darkness.

Drakken's bedroom was his private sanctuary. The one place he could get away from it all. The work, the stress and, last but not least, Kim Possible. This was where he'd go when he was upset enough, not in the mood to talk or just plain tired. Lately he'd felt very tired. No, not just tired. Exhausted. Even his latest plot hadn't been up to its usual standard. The last two days he'd mostly spent behind his desk, not doing much of anything.

A tired Drakken was also a cranky Drakken, so Shego'd lightened up a bit when it came to the remarks. She wanted to get a reaction out of him, not to get fired. Or worse. A small handful of times his temper had even scared her. She knew he needed her, and she knew he knew he needed her just as much as she needed him, but she'd still been unpleasantly surprised by some of his outbursts.


	3. Where Could He Be?

Shego would never admit it but yes, she needed Drakken. When she worked on her own she'd always settle for stealing some valuable item or something of that nature, but Drakken always went for the big goal. World domination. In his mind nothing less would prove to his fellow scientists that they were wrong about him. That he was the greatest genius on the planet. She admired his persistence, his iron will, how he always bounced back. He always had a new scheme to try out or a new invention that needed to be made or "outsourced". But not this time. Something was different. He seemed, for lack of a better word, blue.

Something was eating at him and she couldn't tell what it was. She cursed herself for not being able to read him when it was usually so easy. She looked over at her alarm clock. It was almost half past eight, when she usually got up. By now she'd usually hear her employer humming while making breakfast or lashing out comments while watching the morning news. Today there was nothing but silence. It was almost a little bit eerie.

She wondered why but quickly shook the thought out of her head and got out of her bed, heading for her bathroom. After doing her morning ritual she went to the kitchen, assuming to find the mad doctor eating his meal in silence. When she entered the room she realized it was empty. No Drakken, no breakfast. A hungry Shego is an impatient Shego, and she barely ever cooked, knowing it would end in a small disaster. When Drakken made breakfast he always made sure to make her some as well, after she'd almost burnt the kitchen down after a slight mishap.

He always said he'd really made too much but she knew the extra food was for her. It was sweet really. Of course, she had to pretend she didn't care to keep up her 'tough gal' image but in reality she did and she hoped he realized she did as well. She wasn't one for words like "Thank you." and "You're too kind." so what could she do? Hugging was certainly out of the question. Not only would she have to threaten him to make sure he kept quiet about it, but he wasn't very fond of hugging either.

In fact, he seemed to want to keep her at a distance of a few feet. He'd mentioned some sort of "personal bubble" or something. She guessed it had something to do with what happened to him when he was younger, something he didn't want to talk about. In truth she thought that to be alright. Usually she'd be curious about things Drakken didn't want to share, but when it came to his childhood she thought it was best to just leave him alone. Besides, having to sit through one of his childhood stories again was not something she'd do by free will. She always found them to be a bit boring but mostly she found them to be, well, sad. Often they reminded her of her own childhood. She hadn't been bullied like he did, but she'd had it tough just the same.

Shego went searching for her boss. She was hungry but also worried. She hadn't shown it very often but she did consider him a friend, and she was as much of a friend to him as a villain could allow herself to be. He wasn't in his lab, or in the living area. "Where is he?" and "What could have happened?" were thoughts that swirled inside the villainess' head as she went from room to room. Soon there were only two rooms left. Shego went to the gym first. She'd seen him in there a couple of times, lifting waits or doing some endurance training. He didn't go in there often, but it happened.  
"Empty as well." she thought. "Only one room left."


	4. Sleeping In

The green clad woman walked up to the door of Drakken's bedroom. She'd avoided this room for a couple of different reasons. First of all Drakken would usually be up and about by now, being anywhere but here. Second, he'd made it quite clear he didn't like having other people inside his room. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know why.

She knocked on the door. No answer. "Dr. D?" she uttered but there was still no answer. She knocked again, harder this time. After having waited long enough to realize she wasn't going to get a response she quietly opened the door. If he wasn't there she didn't know what to do.

She gave a small sigh of relief as she saw him. He was still asleep in his bed, still hugging the teddy bear with one arm and still snoring lightly. Shego didn't know why but she wanted to get closer. She quickly and silently closed the distance between herself and the large bed and looked down at the sleeping man. His face looked so peaceful. No grin. No scowl. Just peace. "He looks…" dared she think it, that word again? "Cute." And the snoring, it was soothing in a way. Her eyes moved down to his chest, which was rising an falling with each snore. "He sounds almost like a purring cat." she thought to herself, smiling slightly. Suddenly her belly gave a hungry cry and she shook her head, ridding it of the thoughts she'd just had. "Time to face the music." She thought to herself as she grabbed hold of Drakken's covers.

Drakken was yanked out of his peaceful slumber and right back into cold, harsh reality. "WHAT THE… SHEGO?!" he yelled angrily as he sat up. He scowled at his assistant who stood by the side of his bed, clutching the fabric she'd just yanked off him. His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed as he looked up at her. "What are you doing in here? You know…"

"Rise and shine, Dr. D. I want my breakfast and you don't want me to cause any more havoc in the kitchen, do you?" Shego replied, knowing what was coming next.

"That doesn't explain why you're A, in my room and B, waking me up in such a rude manner!" Drakken hissed, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Yeah, tried knocking but your snoring must've drowned me out." Shego said, crossing her arms. "You've slept in."

Drakken got out of bed, now standing taller than his sidekick, and headed for his bathroom. "I know." he answered. "I'm taking a break."

Shego just stood there, looking at the door leading into Drakken's personal bathroom. "A break?" she thought. "Drakken never takes breaks. He's practically a workaholic."

She knocked on the bathroom door. "What is it?" Came the answer from inside. Drakken was clearly still upset from being awoken so abruptly.

"You're going on vacation?" Shego asked.

"Yes."

"Today?"

"Mhm."

"When are you leaving?"

"After breakfast. Oh, and after I've packed."

"Where you going to tell me?" Shego scowled, already knowing the answer.

"No. Now, can you leave my private chambers? I'd like to get dressed after my shower."


	5. Tagging along

Shego quickly left for the kitchen, where she sat down at the table. "Great!" she huffed. "Just great! He's going on vacation, leaving me here. What am I supposed to do? I planned on working this whole week. Now I've got nothing!" Shego sent a bolt of plasma at the nearby toaster, blasting it to oblivion.

"I was going to make toast with that!" She heard from the kitchen door. Turning around she saw Drakken standing in the doorway with a frown on his face. What caught her eye though was that he wasn't wearing his usual lab coat but a black t-shirt and grey jeans. He was wearing sneakers instead of his boots and his gloves were also gone. It was a different look that suited him quite well. Not that the lab coat didn't. He just looked more relaxed she concluded.

Drakken muttered something about toasters and short tempered assistants as he made his way over to the cupboards and fridge. Shego kept staring at him as he got out what he needed to make pancakes, eggs and bacon. "Why?" she asked all of a sudden.

"Why what?" Drakken asked back, playing dumb.

"Why are you doing this? You never take a break. Ever!"

Drakken turned and looked at his friend, and sighed. "I know. I thought it was time I tried it. I just haven't been very focused for a while now. I haven't been myself so to say. I've been tired, both physically and mentally. I figured a vacation would do me some good."

"So that's what's been cramping ya? You've felt more stressed out than usual?" She looked at him, now feeling somewhat pleased by the fact that she was getting some answers.

Drakken just nodded.

Drakken was feeling a bit relieved after finally having told Shego what the deal was. She still seemed kinda bitter about it though. He turned and looked at her again. She looked more upset by this news than he thought she'd be. He wasn't sure why and he wasn't sure if he should ask, but a little nagging voice made him do it anyway.

"Why do you care?" he asked, already knowing how she'd respond.

"I don't. I do however care about the fact that I no longer have anything to do this entire… How long will you be gone anyway?"

Drakken flipped a pancake while he thought. In the end he had to answer her by saying "I don't know."

"You don't know?" she asked in disbelief, muttering "shouldn't have been a surprise." under her breath.

"Until I feel like I'm ready to come home I guess." he answered more properly. "You know, you can always find work somewhere else while I'm gone, Shego."

Now it was Shego's time to just nod. There was just one more thing she needed to know.

"Why didn't you tell me? I have a right to know."

"True." Drakken replied. "Actually I was going to leave a note. I wasn't really sure what to put in it though. I'm not very good at these kinds of goodbyes."

Drakken put plates of pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon down on the table and seated himself. As the two villains started eating Shego got an idea. A way for Drakken to make it up to her for not telling her he was leaving. "I'm coming with you." she blurted right out, making the blue skinned man almost choke on his pancakes. "You're what now?" He managed to utter between coughs.


	6. Her Room

The two villains retired to their rooms to pack for their trip after the morning meal. Drakken was grumbling to himself because he'd let Shego talk him into bringing her along. She could be quite persuasive, especially when showing off her plasma powers.

Her explanation was that with him gone she didn't have anything to do anyway and that the prospect of a free vacation was always tempting. She also told him he could consider this his punishment for not telling her about it in the first place. At first he'd just said no and told her it was a bad idea, but of course Shego never had bad ideas according to herself. After some arguing and threatening from both parts he finally had to give in.

Shego was also busy packing. She didn't know where Drakken was planning on going, and frankly she didn't care. She'd already decided on Australia. Nice, hot and full of sandy beaches. Whatever the doc's plans were was of no importance. She wondered what he'd think of their new destination. Would he be happy, angry or indifferent? "Meh. Not my problem." she thought while picking out what she wanted to wear. One thing was bothering her though. Drakken had told her why he wasn't going to tell her about the whole thing but she still felt, not betrayed but still, like he'd kept her out of the loop. Something that had only happened once or twice before. Something she didn't like. She was his assistant, his sidekick. She deserved to know these kind of things, didn't she? Sure she'd kept him in the dark a lot of times but this was different, wasn't it?

The mad scientist paced back and forth next to his light blue hovercar. Dr. Drakken had never been a patient man and Shego taking her time packing was really infuriating him. Why couldn't she do like him and just pack the essentials? Toothbrush, a few jeans and t-shirts, some shorts and a teddy bear. Nothing more, nothing less. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity Drakken finally stomped off to Shego's room and knocked on her door.

"Yeah what do you want?" came the reply from inside. "I'm packing, you know, for our trip. The one I didn't know about. The one…"

"I get it Shego!" Drakken growled. "Would it be a problem to hurry up a little though? We don't have all day. Well actually we do but that's not the point."

Shego rolled her eyes, something she was used to doing around the blue skinned man. At most times he'd have the patience of a four year old boy. Not that she was any better, but once again, that was something she'd never admit to.

After a couple of minutes Drakken knocked again before entering the villainess' room.

It was smaller than his, had one small bed and most of the interior was in either green or black. She had a desk, a chair, a bookshelf and, of course, a closet. There was also a door leading to a bathroom. Other than that the room seemed pretty bare. No posters or pictures on the walls. The walls themselves were a bright green colour and most of the furniture a solid black. Sounds were coming from the closet, giving away his assistant's location. She was still going through what she wanted to bring along alright. Something told Drakken this could still take a while. Groaning, he sat down at Shego's desk and picked up one of her many magazines. Reading would be a good way to pass the sweet time Shego was taking. He flipped through the pages, trying to find an interesting article.

"How to keep your nails in tip-top shape when fighting superheroes", "How to bag a bad boy", "Manipulating the weak-minded man". Drakken blinked twice. What kind of villain's magazine was this? He had one look at the cover before uttering a small "Oh."

'Villainess' was only one of the villainous magazines Shego bought. Others had such names as Villains Monthly and Weekly Evil. Villainess was the only one that specifically targeted only females though. Drakken flipped to the first page and looked at the contents register. He found that Shego had drawn a circle around the articles she'd found the most interesting. One circle in particular caught Drakken's eye. It was a quiz on falling in love. Before he had a chance to go over it however Shego came back out of her closet, carrying a large load of clothes.

"Only need a couple of suitcases and I'm all set." she let him know, snickering a little as he groaned at the prospect of having to wait even longer.


	7. Destination Australia

Some time later they were finally on their way to the local airport. As usual Shego was flying the hovercar while Drakken looked through some sheets of paper he'd printed out from the internet. Shego glanced over at him and smirked.

"So, where do you plan on going?" she asked him.

"Alaska. Not really sure exactly where yet."

The answer was short and straight to the point, just like Drakken always kept his side of a dialog. When ranting or gloating he'd always speak in a very grand, sophisticated manner but when he was talking with someone instead of talking at them he kept things simple.

"Alaska?" She turned her head and looked at him.

"Yes, Alaska." He answered, glancing over at her. "What?"

"Nono, wait. Let me see if I'm getting this right." Shego murmured sarcastically.

"You've never taken any breaks apart from Christmas and summer as long as I've known you, and now that you're actually going on vacation you choose going to a place without crystal clear water. Without white, sandy beaches. Without sun. A place without fun!"

Drakken sighed. "Your idea of fun and my idea of fun are completely different."

"C'mon Dr. D." Shego replied, rolling her eyes. "We both know you're not gonna want to be stuck in a hotel room all day, not doing anything. I mean, what's there to do in Alaska?"

"There's… I mean… You know… Plenty of stuff!" the mad scientist muttered.

"Like? Alaska's in the middle of nowhere. You wouldn't be able to survive a day without some sort of technology." The green skinned sidekick told him as a smirk started appearing on her face. "Now Australia on the other hand…"

Drakken blinked twice. "Oh no, Shego. No, no, no! We're not going to Australia!" he growled.

Dr. Drakken looked out the window next to his airplane seat. He had made sure to buy two plane tickets after Shego told him she was coming with. At the airport he had to exchange them for new ones though, to…

"Kingsford Smith International Airport." Shego uttered from the seat next to his.

"What?" Drakken asked, turning to face her.

"Look." She handed her employer a red pamphlet while sighing quietly. "We'll be landing at Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney."

Drakken quickly skimmed through the brochure before dropping it back into Shego's lap, seemingly uninterested. Shego knew this mood all to well. He was sulking. Next on the list was him crossing his arms and grumbling. And… there! She checked it off on her imaginary list. His arms were crossed. All that remained now was for him to start making those cute little growling noises she loved hearing…

"Not that I like him or anything." she thought to herself. "It's Dr. D. for crying out loud! I've known and worked with him for years. He's my boss! My cranky, weird, annoying, conceited boss."

Shego reached down into the pouch strapped to her left leg and pulled out her iPod. Relaxing to her favorite songs would help her clear her mind. She closed her eyes, turned the iPod on and settled into her seat. Yep, this was going to be a great vacation. Even if she was tagging along with Mr. Stick-in-the-mud. He was always so wound up and uptight. Always so boring.

Sometimes she wished he would just loosen up and have a little fun. Her kind of fun. The kind of fun where one actually does something instead of sitting around, dabbling with some kind of boring techno-thingy-whatever. Going to a bar, bungee-jumping or robbing a museum of a priceless artefact.

"Priceless." she thought, smirking. "Yeah, right. I'm always able to find a good price on the black market."

An hour passed and Drakken was still sulking. He couldn't believe it. Not only had she basically forced her to take her along on this trip but now she was basically taking over the whole thing. And Australia? At least Alaska had snow. Australia was just like the Caribbean. If she wanted sun and sandy beaches she might just as well have stayed back home at the lair. No, she was doing this just to spite him. Just to get on his nerves. This was her revenge, making his vacation as miserable for him as possible. The more he thought about it the more aggravated he became. His face went from a sulking frown to an angry scowl. Then he noticed something pressing against him.

It was Shego, or her head at least. She had fallen asleep while listening to her music and now her head was resting against his left shoulder He wondered how long it had gone before he noticed it. He had been so focused on his thoughts, his anger, that he hadn't even felt her weight against him.

The evil genius just sat there. He didn't move a muscle, nor did he make any noise. How was he going to get himself out of this situation? First of all he disliked touching. He couldn't stand being hugged, even by his own mother. He didn't even like people getting too close to him. He needed his personal space and right now Shego was intruding on it.

Secondly, what would happen when Shego actually woke up? When she noticed the slightly compromising position they were in? More than likely she'd be surprised and then upset, something he really didn't need right now.

Then again he was really tempted to get his revenge on her for waking him up like she did earlier. Then she'd feel what it was like having someone tear you out of that wonderful, comfortable dream world. Oh yes, it was tempting. His fingers were itching. A smirk appeared on his face. He could make her pay for what she did in an instance. She'd probably get violent with him, but he didn't care. It would be worth it. Sweet, sweet revenge. He grinned at the thought and his right hand twitched. Then it moved.


	8. Noticing Her and Arrival

A flight attendant approached the two of them, smiling. "Yes? May I be of service?" he asked, looking first at the slumbering woman clad in the green and black jumpsuit before turning attention to the blue skinned man with his hand on the call button.

"That was fast. My business associate here needs a blanket. Be sure to get her one right away!" the oddly colored man whispered.

The flight attendant wasn't really sure if the man was asking or making an order or a threat.

"Oh and make sure it's a green one!" the man demanded.

"Yes sir! Right away." the steward replied. He had a feeling this was a customer who was going to be hard to please and that it would be a long flight..

"And keep your voice down! She's sleeping!" the cranky passenger whispered in a harsh, annoyed tone.

Drakken groaned to himself. Why didn't he do it? He was more than capable of it. He was actually reaching for her shoulder to shake her awake when he saw her face. He'd never seen her asleep before. She looked so serene and tranquil. It was a side of her he hadn't witnessed before. She seemed almost vulnerable though he knew she wasn't. He just couldn't bring himself to wake her up. Shego shifted her body a little, into a more comfortable position. She was facing him now. He could wake her just by breathing hard enough.

The villain's mouth twitched. He couldn't stay mad at her, at least not while she was asleep like this. She was a person with feelings after all, just like him. She just had a different way of dealing with them. Unlike him she kept them hidden most of the time. Maybe, in some way, he was a lot more braver than her when it came to showing emotions or sharing thoughts. She never truly talked about what was on her mind. She joked a lot and made sarcastic comments but didn't talk about what was really going on inside her head. She never made suggestions or brought up any opinions she might've had. Drakken wondered why. Did it have something to do with her brothers? Or was it because of an event that had happened in the time between her leaving them and joining up with him?

Shego's eyelids fluttered. She was slowly waking up from her slumber. At first she just wanted to go back to sleep. She was only half awake, and the first thing her senses picked up on was that her iPod was still playing. The villainess yawned. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. Then she realized she was looking straight into the eyes of her employer. It caught her completely off guard and her eyes flew open. He looked like, well, she didn't know. He didn't look angry, or excited. He looked more calm and relaxed. Something she found to be very unusual.

"Uh…" was all she managed to utter.

"What?" he asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Shego replied.

Drakken shrugged. "Just thinking."

"About what?" Shego asked, still acting a little taken aback. "About me?"

The mad scientist shrugged again before changing the subject. "How was your nap?"

Shego blushed a little and turned away so he wouldn't be able to notice it. "Just great." she thought. "I fell asleep in front of him! Now he's going to think I feel all comfortable around him."

"Shego, are you listening? I asked you a question!" Drakken stated loudly, making sure she'd hear him this time.

"It was super-terrific, alright?" she answered. Then she noticed the blanket covering her body. It was green. Dark green but green none the less. Shego turned her head and looked at Drakken again. "Did you get me this?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

"No, a flight attendant did. Oh, but I ordered him too." he replied before turning his attention out the window next to him once more

Shego smiled to herself, just a little. Dr. D really was a good friend. She just wished he'd pay a little more attention to her instead of his mad plots. That was the reason she went about annoying him most of the time after all, to get his attention. She had no idea why she wanted him to notice her. She just did. That's why she'd helped Kim Possible defeat him and Warmonga. She'd never tell anyone but yes, she'd been jealous. Jealous because Warmonga had taken her place. That overgrown alien Amazon had been getting the attention from him that she deserved! Maybe now that they were on vacation together he'd start doing just that, giving her more attention. He wouldn't have any work to obsess about or any plans to focus on. Maybe the two of them spending some time together wouldn't be so bad after all. Him making sure to get her a blanket was a good sign of that.

After quite some time the pilot announced that they were approaching the airport and the 'fasten seatbelts' light came on. Both criminals strapped themselves in and prepared for the landing. Everything went as smoothly as possible and the two of them were soon getting out of their seats. Drakken stretched and gave a slight yawn. The seats had been comfy but he was still a bit stiff after having had to sit still for so long. He made a few circular motions with his neck and shoulder blades, just to get blood flowing. Shego just wanted to get out of the plane. She had no intention on spending even a second more of her vacation inside when there was sun and fun to be had. The first thing she needed to do was to get away from the crowded airport. She grabbed hold of her boss' arm.

"C'mon Dr. D. It's time to leave!" she told him as she yanked him in the direction of the nearest door.


	9. Benton

Shego had clearly been to Sydney before as she was able to give very clear instructions to the villains' taxi driver when it came to which hotel she wanted to stay at. The Benton was a small hotel. Perfect if one didn't want to draw attention. It was somewhere Shego had stayed several times the last few years. It wasn't the most exclusive or luxurious of establishments but it would do for one night. Shego knew the owner, Jimmy "Lips" Benton. She'd done some work for him before she found her place with Drakken. A heist or two. She didn't really trust him but he owed her a favor. Drakken had been planning to go to Alaska so he didn't have any Australian dollars on him. Shego had put away some in her leg pouch when she packed but she'd spent it all on the cab fare. Jimmy's favor would be to provide them with free rooms this one night while they were strapped for cash.

They arrived at the hotel after forty minutes. It would've gone faster if Drakken hadn't lost his temper with a young lady who'd cut them off at a cross section. He'd actually gotten out of the cab when the two cars stopped at a traffic light a few seconds later, walked up to the driver's seat window of her car and started laying into her about the rules and regulations of the road. He growled and made threats as usual, all to Shego's amusement. Setting him off was clearly quite easy after the long flight they'd just had. The woman must've thought he was some sort of psycho as he frightened her enough to run the red light and nearly cause an accident. Shego just grinned at him as he sat back down next to her in the back seat, still grumbling. She loved it when he made a scene. Especially if she wasn't involved in it. She liked seeing him taking his anger and frustration out on other people, which would usually be his henchmen.

While Drakken was busy unloading their luggage, cursing the suitcases as he did so, Shego went inside. The hotel lobby was a lot brighter and more elegant than she remembered. A glass chandelier was hanging from the ceiling, lighting up the room. The wallpaper was a soothing baby blue that complimented the parquet floor. The villainess walked up to the mahogany desk and cleared her throat, signalling her presence to the receptionist.

"Can I help you ma'am?" the young man asked in an Australian accent.

Shego sent him an annoyed look. "Call me ma'am again and you'll be eating through a straw the next few weeks."

"I won't ma'am… miss!" the receptionist replied, obviously startled by her aggressive nature.

"I'm looking for Mr. Benton. Is he here?"

Drakken had a hard time handling the suitcases. It was very clear he didn't have much experience carrying this much luggage. He'd lost count how many times he'd cursed Shego's name by now. He'd never seen suitcases quite as large as the two Shego'd brought. Wasn't there a bellboy around? He picked up his own suitcase and placed it under his arm before grabbing hold of Shego's, one in each hand. The madman groaned as he tried opening the front door while still maintaining a good hold on the three pieces of luggage. Through the glass door he could see Shego talking to a young man in a cream colored suit. He was tall with slicked back, neck-long red hair and freckles. He had piercing blue eyes and a pointy nose. If the color of his hair was natural the tan he had going certainly wasn't. His skin was a golden brown no redhead would be able to achieve except through a self tanning product.

After some struggling Drakken finally managed to get inside and set the suitcases down. He approached his assistant who seemed to be enjoying the stranger's company.

"Shego, who is this man?" he asked in a slightly tense voice.

"This is the guy I mentioned." She answered. "Dr. D, meet Jimmy Benton. Lips, this is Dr. Drakken."

"Her current employer." Drakken quickly added, not really knowing why he did so.

Benton flashed a toothy grin at him and stuck a hand out for him to shake. "Dollface was just telling me 'bout ya." he said.

The evil doctor just stared at him. If looks could kill Jimmy "Lips" Benton would've died several times over by now.

Jimmy quickly retracted his hand and shifted his attention back to Shego. "So, how long you two planning on stayin', pudding? Just the one night? We've got lots of catching up to do!"

Shego just feigned a smirk at him.

"Ya know…" he continued. "I've only got one room left in the entire hotel." He licked his lips before trying his best at a seductive smile. "I'm staying in the penthouse suite and..." He placed his hand on Shego's arm. " I've got plenty of extra space in my bed."

Drakken had heard enough. He turned around as quick as possible and stalked off to find a bellboy, or at least a baggage cart.


	10. Delusions of Grandeur

Shego looked around the room and scowled. She was standing next to a queen sized bed. Yep, this was it. Lips' penthouse suite. She'd been in here before but only to talk business. Well in a way this was business too. Lips was a sleaze ball but she'd have to humor him if she wanted a bed to sleep in tonight. Frankly she thought him to be disgusting. She hated how he called her "Doll", "Pudding" and other demeaning nicknames. He reeked of cheap aftershave, his hands were cold and that fake tan made him look like some sort of alien.

Benton had gone to the bathroom to "change into something more comfortable". Shego cringed at the thought. Why had she ever chosen to work for him anyway? Then she remembered. It was at the start of her criminal career. She was short on money and needed to establish a name for herself. It was basically Jimmy Benton or nothing.

He already had his nickname when she first met him. He'd been tagged as "Lips" in the criminal underworld because he had a thing for squealing to the police whenever he felt the slightest bit of pressure. He was a snitch. He'd ratted out plenty of other lowlifes to save his own skin. Not only that but he also considered himself to be what he called a "smooth talker". Oh yes, in his mind he was king.

Benton stepped out of the bathroom, clad in a robe. Thankfully for Shego he was still wearing his pants on underneath. She had enough trouble keeping from gagging as it was.

"Like what I've done with the place, sweet thing?" he asked casually.

Shego looked around. The room was dark and clammy. The lamps gave of a sickly orange light. Basically it looked just like she remembered it.

"Sure" she lied.

"I'm a real man ya know." Jimmy uttered as he walked up to her. "A real player. Just the other night I had two girls up here."

"Yeah right." Shego thought. "For wwhat, three minutes? Till ya opened that mouth of yours? Till the lights came on?"

The man-weasel continued trying to impress her, or at least that's what Shego guessed. What he was really doing was repulsing her more and more.

"Did I tell you I'm double jointed? I can do things with my body you wouldn't believe."

The green skinned woman's right hand closed into a fist. She wanted to punch him straight in the mouth.

"I can give you whatever you want. Whatever you need. I have that kind of power." he told her.

She knew he was lying. He was just the shady owner of a run down hotel. He had no real power in the criminal world. People, especially women just used him to get higher up on the social ladder in Sydney's underworld. He was a nobody. A piece of slime. But he was slime that could alert the authorities if she didn't play along.

Shego decided enough was enough and tried changing the subject. "How's the hotel business? Paying off for ya?"

Jimmy put his arm around her. "Oh yeah, it's going great! Why? You wanna piece of the action? I can get you in if you wanna quit the job you have now. Of course I'm gonna want a little something in return."

She tried staying polite and just shook her head. "I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing at the moment. I've got money. I have a rep. Things are good."

"Still…" His hand moved down her side. "If you ever change your mind…" It latched onto her rear like a parasite. "You know where to find me."

Dear heaven, he was even worse than she remembered. Whatever money he'd gotten hold of since the last time she saw him must've gotten to his head. The urge to walk out of the room grew stronger by the second. Even stronger than that was the urge to give him a thorough beating but Shego didn't want to spend this vacation of hers on the run from the police and Global Justice. She'd just have to grin and bear it. She took a few steps away from him and sat down on the bed.

"Got anything to eat in this place?" she wanted to know as she suddenly realized she hadn't eaten a decent meal since breakfast.

"I'll have the hotel chef whip us up some nice tucker." He blew her a kiss before walking out the door.

Shego shuddered. She felt so… dirty. She couldn't take it any more. No way was she going to spend another minute in that room. She felt like she'd been violated, just by his talking. This was the perfect opportunity for her to leave, while he was gone. She stormed out the door and ran down the nearby stairs. Soon she found herself on the third floor, outside the room Lips had given to Drakken.

She walked up to the door and tried turning the knob. "Locked?"

She knocked. "Dr. D? Are you in there?"

Was he asleep already? Nah, he couldn't be. It was still fairly early in the evening. Maybe he was out, but doing what? Shego sighed and slumped down in front of the room. Then she heard footsteps coming up the stairs and quickly got back up.

Jimmy was carrying a tray of assorted sandwiches up the stairs when he noticed something moving on the third floor.

"Shego, babycakes, whatcha doing down here?"

She had to come up with something fast. "Just wanted to check on Dr. D. Haven't seen him in a couple of hours and wondered if he's settled in yet."

"I'm sure he's fine. Now come on! You've got a ticket to the Benton express and the train's ready to leave the station. I'm gonna rock your world! Oh yeah!" Jimmy announced, strolling over to her.

As Shego was about to reply both she and Benton suddenly noticed heavy breathing coming from the staircase. It was Dr. Drakken and he looked furious.

"Shego…" He hissed as he threw her the keys to his room. "Take the sandwiches and let yourself in. I'll be with you shortly."

Normally Shego'd give him some sort of sassy reply but not this time. She'd only seen him this angry once before and really didn't want to be there when Mt. Drakken erupted.

She unlocked the door, grabbed the tray of sandwiches off of Benton and calmly walked into the room she'd be staying in for the rest of the night. Before getting herself ready for bed she wolfed down the food she'd taken from Jimmy. Drakken came in after a few minutes. His face was completely purple and he was muttering something. Shego thought it best to just leave him alone and call it an evening. It had been a long day and she was tired.


	11. Drakken's Rage

The next morning Shego woke up feeling refreshed. She half expected to see Drakken sleeping next to her, knowing his social ineptitude. He was nowhere in sight thought. The light snoring coming from outside the bedroom told her he was sleeping on the couch. She got up quickly and made her way to the bathroom. After what happened she really felt like she needed a shower. A nice, long, hot shower. She needed to wash of that feeling of dirtiness Benton had left her with.

She smirked as her thoughts wandered to Jimmy "Lips" Benton. Yesterday she might've played nice but now that she'd gotten her sleep there was no reason being gentle any more. She was going to give him such a beating his own mother wouldn't be able to recognize him. She'd bend him like a pretzel Pound him into oblivion. Tear him limb from limb. It was going to be fun getting her revenge on him. Telling him exactly how she felt about him. Leaving him scared, battered and bruised.

The shower was exactly what the doctor ordered. The warm water had felt like heaven against her skin. Shego sighed contently as she pulled on a pair of dark green jeans. She had just finished getting dressed when someone knocked on the door. She groaned as she left the bathroom, knowing exactly who it was. Then she remembered the thoughts she'd had in the shower and a smile appeared on her face. It was payback time. Now he'd make up for yesterday by serving as her personal punching bag. She was going to drag it out too, leaving him begging for mercy.

She walked up to the door, passing the couch with her still sleeping boss on the way. Once again his gentle snoring reminded her of a purring feline and she couldn't help throwing him a quick glance before opening the door. The sight that met her almost made her jaw drop. "Lips? What…?"

Benton's right eye was swollen shut. Actually the entire right side of his face was colored a dark purple. His lower lip was split and he seemed anxious.

"I… brought you some food. Figured you and your boss might be hungry." he stuttered as he handed Shego the breakfast tray he was carrying. He shot one last nervous look over her shoulder, swallowed and quickly disappeared down the hall.

Shego was left standing in the door bewildered and curious about what had just happened. Why did he look the way he did? What had happened to him? Why was he so jittery? And what was with him sending those anxious looks past her like that? She turned around and walked over to the couch where her employer lay sleeping, putting the tray down on the nearby coffee table. Was it possible?

"No way. It can't be him." she thought to herself as she folded her arms across her chest. "It just can't. He doesn't do things like that. He couldn't even beat up a fly."

Drakken turned over onto his side and the snores stopped. Once again he had a gentle hold on his teddy bear.

Shego bit her lower lip. What if it was him? She was all too familiar with his mood swings. She'd joked about him suffering from PMS on several occasions. She'd seen him get physical with his henchmen, kicking them and shoving them around. Maybe he could get violent with someone if they provoked him enough, or just right. Shego found the thought to be alluring. She liked this aggressive side of him. He often spoke about punishment but actually seeing that he'd carried it out… She took a deep breath. Her whole body felt like it was tingling. Her breathing was heavy and short. She blinked and shook her head vigorously for a second. Her lips felt dry so she licked them. Then she put a hand on his shoulder and shook him gently.

Dr. Drakken opened his eyes slowly. The first thing to come into view was his beloved teddy, which he was unable to sleep without. Then, as he rolled over onto his back the face of his sidekick appeared before him. He frowned.

"Again Shego? Is it possible for me to get any sleep at all without you waking me up?"

His assistant just smiled at him. "At least I was gentle this time."

Drakken ran a hand down his face. He needed a shower and a shave, and to brush his teeth. He took pride in his teeth. He brushed them at least twice a day, every day.

As the evil madman got up from his horizontal position Shego sat down next to him.

"Dr. D, what happened last night?"

He looked turned his head and looked at her. "Is it important?"

"Yeah, it is." she answered. "Now tell me!"

Drakken scratched his scruffy chin and nodded. "Alright."

He told her how he was feeling hungry the night before so he'd gone down to the hotel kitchen to snoop around. While he was making himself some sandwiches someone came through the door, so he decided to make himself scarce. The "someone" turned out to be Benton. From his hiding place behind a large freezer Drakken could see him grinning as he saw the tray of sandwiches someone had just left out in the open. He quickly picked it up before leaving the room.

The mad scientist had been fairly annoyed by this since he'd just spent several minutes preparing what was supposed to have been his evening meal. He decided to follow Benton and maybe give him a lecture on how to treat one's guests. Instead he stopped short in his tracks when he overheard the rat talking to her, his friend, like she was some thing. A piece of meat. His toy to play with. He could feel his face growing warmer from the blood streaming to it. He could feel his fingertips digging into the palms of his hands as they closed into fists. He could feel his top and bottom teeth grinding against each other and his whole body shaking with anger. Then he approached them.

After Shego closed the door to his room Drakken had turned his attention to "Lips".

"I never want to hear you talk to her like that ever again." He'd told him, his voice as cold as ice.

"Relax, blueberry. It's not like she's your girlfriend." Benton replied before smirking.

"Ya can't blame me for trying to get with that smokin' piece of woman."

Drakken grabbed Jimmy by his collar and growled into his face.

"C'mon, Dr. Strange." Benton rolled his eyes. "You expect me to believe you've never slept with her all these years? That's she's never given you a little taste? I bet she's an animal. I bet…"

He never got to finish his sentence. Instead he stumbled backwards as Drakken's fist made contact with his eye. The skinny hotel owner squeaked and his hands automatically flew up in a defensive position, but it was too late. Drakken was already on him again.

"You will not…" His fist hit him in the face one more time. "Say anything like that…" He kneed him in the groin. "About my best friend…" The evil genius hoisted him into the air. "Or any other woman ever again!" Drakken looked him deep into the eyes. "Or else I'll do something so very bad to you'll be begging for me to be doing this again instead."

He threw him down the stairs onto the landing about fifteen steps down before brushing himself off and straightening the black t-shirt he was wearing. "Oh, and for your information… I'm a virgin." Then he went to his room, leaving Benton a shivering mess in serious need of painkillers.


	12. Running Errands

Shego didn't know what to say. She just sat there and looked at the blue skinned man. Why had he done that? Why had he come to her defence? He usually let her deal with her own problems, or did he? Shego remembered how he'd come to her rescue when he thought she was in danger the first time she was reunited with her brothers. She had been grateful but she was a villain and villains never showed gratitude. Not in her mind at least. Drakken himself wasn't big on gratitude either. He'd say things like "Nicely done, Shego." or "Good job." but he never thanked her. Not that she expected him too, but it would be nice feeling appreciated.

She hoped he didn't think she was weak. That she needed rescue. She could take care of herself. She was a big girl after all. Heck, she'd beaten up guys several times her own bodyweight. She wasn't one of those girly-girl damsels in distress. She was Shego, tough and mean. She beat up police officers who tried giving her speeding tickets. She broke into museums, malls and whatnot just to get into brawls with the security guards. She helped her boss get into secret facilities no-one was even supposed to know about. Her boss. She snapped back out of her thoughts. She still had questions for him.

"I thought you didn't like fighting." She pulled her legs up underneath her. Her posture, her body language, gave away that she was genuinely curious. "Well?"

"I don't. I hate it." Drakken mumbled.

"Why? You'd get a lot more respect from others if you did what you did to Lips more often."

The villain sighed and shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. It's personal." Then he smirked at her. "Oh, and it's boring."

Shego smirked back before asking another question. "If that's the case why did ya go all Bruce Lee on Lips? You know I wasn't going to let him get away with it."

"I know." Drakken replied. "I guess I snapped, seeing him treat you like that."

"I didn't need your help ya know." she told him.

"That wasn't why I did it. I did it because it was the right thing for me to do. No woman, no human being should be treated like an object. Especially if that person is a friend of mine. I can barely stand cousin Eddy and that wretched little slime is even worse." Drakken's eyes lighted up and he grinned. "Well, at least he was worse. I doubt anyone's ever laid hand on that boy before. He lost his backbone after the first punch."

His assistant grinned back at him. "Didn't know you had it in ya, doc."

A few hours passed. Drakken had eaten, freshened up and left for the bank he'd noticed a couple of blocks away. Shego also had an agenda. Dr. D may have gotten to Lips before she did but that didn't mean he was off the hook yet. She exited the hotel and made her way down the street. There it was, just like she remembered it. "Jewels' Jewels" the sign above the door read in glowing red, neon letters. She'd been here before. In fact the last time she was inside Robert "Rob" D. Jewels' store was when she did her last job for Lips. The police had made him a suspect but never managed to pin the robbery on him. Shego laughed to herself. Benton was about to find out what irony tastes like.

Drakken smiled to himself as he was walking down the sidewalk towards the hotel. He was actually leaving the crummy hotel. The trip to the bank hadn't gone smoothly either. There'd been unfathomably long lines, screaming babies and impolite teenagers. All in all it was a relief knowing Shego and he would soon be on their way. He'd accomplished what he set out to do, which also felt good. His wallet was stuffed with Australian dollars where there previously had been American ones. Up until now the only peace and relaxation he'd gotten was on the plane. He really needed some rest and now he was actually starting to think there was a possibility of getting some.

Shego was already waiting outside the hotel when Drakken caught sight of her. She'd already made sure their luggage had been handled and she'd also hailed a cab. It almost looked like she was in a hurry. Drakken didn't blame her one bit. Benton was standing in his hotel's doorway, smiling at him nervously. One glare from the evil genius and the smile disappeared though, replaced by the anxious look he'd had that very same morning.

Shego snickered as Jimmy was about to duck inside and close the door. "Why don't ya help me with these?" she asked him, pointing at the three suitcases.

"What? Me?" He blurted out, looking appalled.

"No, I was talking to the little suitcase-carrying elves behind you." Shego said, smiling sweetly at him before her face dropped back into it's usual frown. "Of course you!"

Then she looked over at her employer and smirked. "And here I thought Dr. D was dense."

Drakken shot her a nasty look before he got into the taxi. "Be quick!" his raspy voice uttered from inside the car. "I want to get out of here as quickly as possible. I have a vacation to vacate!"

The mint colored woman grinned but before she could say anything…

"Yes, I know. Enjoy. Whatever. Not an englist, Shego!"


	13. Choosing a Car

Fifty minutes later the two villains arrived at their destination. Once again it would've taken them faster but they had to wait several minutes while Benton tried loading their suitcases into the cab's trunk. Both of them had been amused at how pathetically weak he seemed to be as he struggled lifting two of the three suitcases. After about twenty minutes he'd finally been able to place the last piece of luggage into the back of the taxi. Both the mad scientist and his assistant had found much humor in his complete ineptitude at the task he'd been given. The villains got out of their cab and ventured inside the building they'd stopped in front of. A car rental agency.

Drakken, not being weighed down by luggage, approached the nearest desk. Behind it sat a short, plump man with a big mustache and an even bigger smile. "May I help you?" the chubby man asked.

"Yes…" Drakken read his nametag. "… Don. I'm here to rent… a car."

"Excuse Dr. Obvious here." Shego uttered as she strolled up next to her employer. "He can be a little oblivious to his surroundings sometimes."

"Shego!" Drakken growled at her. "I'm talking shop here so would you please, just for a second, ice the lip?!"

The last part of the sentence came out sounding cold and harsh to Don, the outsider. He glanced back and forth between the partners in crime, smiling awkwardly, before noticing they were both staring right at him.

"As I was saying," Drakken started, sending Shego a quick glare. "I'm here to rent a vehicle. Something that's spectacularly sinister-looking yet lets us keep a low profile."

"Uh…" Don looked pretty much dumbfounded by what the madman had just said.

Shego sighed. "I'll translate. My boss here, the lover of all things overcomplicated, words included, would like to know if you have anything in black."

"What she said." Drakken mumbled, scowling.

"Oh yes, black!" the stout, mustachioed man exclaimed. "We've got two black cars in at the moment." He got out of his chair and signalled for the two criminals to follow him. "Let's go have a look, shall we?"

"Fantabulous!" Drakken was grinning from ear to ear as he darted all around the black SUV, inspecting it like a small toddler would do to a unwrapped Christmas present.

"What's with you, doc?" Shego asked him. "You never get this excited over a car."

"Hmm? What?" The evil genius responded, showing he wasn't paying too much attention to her. "Oh it's not the car itself. I couldn't care less how much gas a mile this thing gulps down or what goes on under the hood. No, that's not important in the least."

"Then why…" Shego wasn't able to finish her question, as her boss interrupted her.

"The features, Shego!"

"The features?" She looked at him like he was from a different planet.

"Exactly! Just look at what we've got here! Flatscreen monitors. DVD player. MP3 player. Satellite radio. Sun roof. Heated seats. Global positioning system. Cup holders. Cup holders, Shego!"

"Dr. D…"

"See, we can drive and not worry about spilling any beverages! Isn't that just totally off the heezy?" Drakken was practically jumping up and down in sheer enthusiasm.

"Again with the hip lingo?" The female sidekick asked.

"Oh you know I'm bad, yo! Peace out, dawg."

Shego didn't know if she wanted to groan, sigh or slap some sense into him.

The second car was something more to the villainess' taste. "Now this," she said, grinning. "this is what I call a car."

In front of the two lawbreakers stood a small, black convertible sports car. It looked sleek, fast and ,most importantly to Shego, sexy. All the right curves where in all the right places. It was a car built for aerodynamics. Shego opened the seat on the driver's side and got in. The car had a red leather interior and the seat felt comfy. The minty green woman turned to the pale blue man. "I say we take this one."

"No." Drakken stated clearly, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Why not?" Shego looked up him questioningly.

"I want the big one with all the stuff! I mean, sure this one has a low ground clearance creating a vacuum of air that makes it stick to the road better. Sure it looks good. And I have to admit it's a nice car. It's just…"

"What?"

"Where are all the features? The cool little gadgets? All it's got is a big engine!" Drakken got in on the passenger's side. "And seats that that make you feel like you're sitting on a cloud. Still, no. It's my vacation. I decide!"

Shego scowled at him. "The SUV chugs down gas like a frat boy with beer ya know."

"So does this one. And it's not spacious enough! You know I like to keep people at a distance."

Shego couldn't argue with what he said. He was right after all. She cursed under her breath. All right, new approach. She lighted up on of her hands with plasma. "You wanna end up spending the rest of your vacation alone in a hospital?"

"Actually that doesn't sound so bad in comparison to spending the rest of it with you." Drakken hissed through gritted teeth.

The female mercenary's scowl deepened. That was a low blow but she wasn't going to show him how much it stung. She wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. Shego sighed. "Look, Dr. D, can we just get this car and get outta here?" she said before swallowing. "Please?"

Drakken huffed and paced a little before he approached Don. "I guess we'll take this one." he muttered while rolling his eyes. What he didn't see was Shego biting her lower lip while staring at him again. Well, his back.


	14. His Attention

The villainess thought the wind felt great flowing through her hair like it did. Driving in a convertible always gave Shego a sense of freedom. It was just her, the wind and the open road. And well, him too. Shego snuck a quick peek at the man sitting next to her in the passenger's seat. Drakken was reading a book so thick Shego considered making a joke about it being the dictionary. Instead she kept her focus on the road. Most of it at least. She couldn't help glancing over at him whenever he turned a page or shifted to find a more comfortable reading position. It was almost awkwardly silent. For her anyway. A bit boring too. She didn't really feel like listening to the car radio so she tried engaging her friend in some light conversation.

"So… Whatcha reading'?"

"Sci-Fi novel." Drakken replied half-heartedly.

Shego hesitated for a second. It didn't seem like he was very interested in talking to her. Besides, the only Sci-Fi she liked was what she could see in movies. She enjoyed reading but she read thrillers mostly, and maybe the occasional love story. Another secret she wasn't going to share with anyone. She tried approaching him about the book again.

"Is it any good?"

"Mhh."

"What's it about?"

"Mhm."

"Doc? Are ya in there?"

"That's very interesting Shego."

Shego sighed. Once again he wasn't paying any attention to her at all. He was all wrapped up in his own little thing as usual, not paying her any heed. If the road trip was going to be any little bit of interesting at all she'd have to do something. And she did.

"Hey!" Drakken yelled as his assistant ripped the book he was reading straight out of his hands. "Shego, what are you…" Then she threw it into the backseat, almost chucking it out of the car altogether. "Shego! I don't know what page I was on!"

She just sent him an ice cold stare. "I'm bored. We're gonna talk and we're gonna talk now!"

Drakken gave her a suspicious look. "About?"

Shego shrugged. "Anything."

"Alright." the mad genius replied. "I'll bite. How are things on the guy front?"

Shego was so surprised by the question she almost lost control of the car. "Yeah, you didn't just ask me how my "lovelife" is, did ya? No, didn't think so."

"Since I don't have one of my own I figured I'd mooch off of yours." Drakken exclaimed smirking.

"Doc, way too personal. Which means I'm not telling you."

"Fine." Drakken continued smirking as he reached into the backseat to fetch his book.

Shego sighed. Why did he have to be so… him?! So difficult! He could be such an enigma at times. On one side he had his routines. He always seemed to go after the same goal. Basically he had a one-tracked mind. She could often predict his actions and reactions. On the other hand he was unpredictable just as often. He could say or do things that made no sense at all. His mood was constantly changing, going from childish glee to explosive rage in a matter of seconds. His plans, although they always had the same thing as goal, world domination, were mostly without denotation to anyone but himself. She decided that maybe telling him about her current situation maybe wouldn't be so bad after all. It could help getting through to him. After all there wasn't much else to talk about.

"Okay, you've got it." she told him. "I'll tell ya."

Drakken grinned, knowing he'd just won the battle. "Go on."

"Maybe. Probably not. There's this one guy, but I don't know. I've known him for a long time. Years actually. These feelings I have for him only started to show themselves recently." Shego started.

"Is he intelligent? Interesting?"

"Yeah, he's smart. You'd like him. He's a scientist."

"What?" Drakken smirked. "Not a hunky beach boy, with big muscles and a golden tan?"

Shego shook her head. "Those guys are fun for like a day or so, after which I tend to get annoyed by their stupidity. They've all been shallow jerks too. Not boyfriend material. They don't really care about me and I don't really care about them. It's just about going out and having some fun."

Drakken seemed like he was pretty interested at this point. He was actually looking at her instead of the sky. "And this scientist fellow, he's not like that?"

"No." his sidekick answered. "He's… Well he can be a self-absorbed oaf sometimes but he's a really sweet guy. He's sensitive but he can be tough too, when it's needed."

"What does he look like?" The madman asked.

"He's tall. About your height. Dark hair. He's got broad shoulders and a wide chest. Muscular without looking like a bodybuilder. And he's got a really great smile."

"So this guy is what you'd call boyfriend material?" Drakken enquired, still giving Shego his full attention.

"He might be." She smiled weakly, keeping her eyes on the road. "I just wish he'd notice me. Sometimes it seems like he doesn't care about me at all. He' so caught up in himself that… I don't know. It makes me feel… Ugh… like I'm not attractive or something."

Drakken put a hand on Shego's shoulder. "You not attractive? What is this nonsense you speak of? Shego, I'm your friend, and as your friend it's my duty to tell you that you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." he told her, smiling. "I gave up on finding a girlfriend several years ago. Quite frankly I'd be surprised if someone half as beautiful as you would want me as their significant other. Both back then and now. There's no chance of it happening."

Shego bit her tongue. She wanted to thank him for saying what he said. Instead she shook her head. "Bleh! Enough of this sappy girl talk." She smirked at Drakken. "Wouldn't want ya to start crying."

The blue skinned man was about to reply when he caught sight of something ahead of them. "Look Shego, a hitchhiker. Pull over!"

"What?" Shego looked at him confused. "Why?"

"Simple." Drakken answered. "You need someone to talk to and I need to… not be talked to."

His second-in-command gave a dull expression but did as instructed. "This better be worth it Dr. D." She said as the car moved to a halt.

The stranger smiled at them before jumping into the backseat, taking her suitcase along with her. "Hi there. Thanks for stopping. Name's Sarah. Sarah Gatt."


	15. Sarah Gatt

Drakken's eye was twitching. This wasn't what he'd been hoping for. Instead of Sarah talking to Shego, letting him read in peace, she was actually trying to chat with him instead.

"So anyway, that's why I'm on my way to the Gold Coast." she stated. "I haven't seen my sister in months. It's gonna be great!"

Drakken turned around and gave her the biggest smile he could muster. "That's nice to hear." he told her.

Sarah was a little shorter than Shego, and a little skinnier. Her dark brown hair reached down to the middle of her back. She didn't have a tan but her complexion was healthy. She was wearing a red sundress that showed off her petite curves and matched her green eyes.

"Oh, hey!" Sarah gasped as she looked at her wristwatch. "Check this out." She quickly got up from the back seat and leaned over into the front of the car. The young woman stabled herself by placing her hand firmly on Drakken's thigh as she switched on the radio. The voice coming from the electronic apparatus was, in fact, hers. "In other news Jimmy Benton, the owner of hotel Benton in Sydney, was apprehended by police officers thirty minutes ago. Sources say that not only was one of Benton's business cards found at the crime scene but the missing jewellery from Robert Jewels' store were located in the penthouse suit of his hotel."

Drakken's eye twitched again. Why did this girl, this stranger, have her hand on his thigh? She could've found somewhere else to put it, couldn't she? It really wasn't necessary planting it where she did. She was invading his space in a much more direct way than it had ever been before.

"Did you hear that?" Sarah asked as she sat back down and buckled herself in. "I work at a local radio station. We just got that piece of news in about two hours ago. Apparently this Benton guy getting pinned to a crime is big news so they're sending reruns of my news report for at least another couple of hours."

Sarah leaned back into the backseat before grinning. "Nice thigh, blueberry. Firm. What's your name?"

The mad scientist seemed emotionless as he started answering her question. "I am Dr. Dra…"

"Drew. His name's Drew Lipsky" Shego pointed out, cutting him off. "I'm Sheila Go."

"Dr. Drew Lipsky?" the brunette asked.

"Uh… Yes!" Drakken responded quickly. "And Ms. Go here, she's, well she's my…"

"Girlfriend?"

Drakken and Shego's mouths dropped. Then they both burst out in laughter. Drakken was the first one to regain his breath. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. She's not my… She's my personal assistant. Yes, that's right. Personal assistant."

"Yeah." Shego agreed, still giggling. "He just signs the pay-checks. There's nothing more between us than that.

"Oh." Sarah replied understandingly. "So where are the two of you going?"

Drakken turned to Shego. He wasn't really sure where they were going either. "Well, answer the lady."

"Alright! Jeeze! Relax doc." Shego answered. "We're heading to the Golden Palm hotel and spa."

"Wow! You're sure?" their new acquaintance pondered.

"Pretty sure, yeah." the villainess answered.

"That is so awesome!" the second female exclaimed. "That's where I'm hooking up with my sister!"

Drakken and Shego looked at each other once again.

A while later Shego pulled over at a small diner. Drakken was the first one out of the car. "I need to go to the little boys' room!" he blurted out as he darted away from the two women. Shego was now alone with Sarah.

"So, if you two aren't a couple…" Sarah started as she jumped out of the back seat.

"We're not." Shego reassured her while slamming the car door shut.

"Is it okay if maybe I take a shot at him?" the brunette continued.

Shego stopped dead in her tracks. "You like… Dr. D?"

"If that's your nickname for Drew then yeah. He's sweet. Not to mention cute. He's got a great smile and he isn't in that bad of a shape."

The villainess nodded. It was true. Dr. D did have a nice body, a great smile, cute ears and wonderfully sinister eyes. His scar and distinguished cheekbones enhanced the evil look.

"Yeah." Shego sighed, biting her lower lip again.

"Yeah what?" Sarah wondered.

"Uh, yeah you can have him." the green clad woman replied as she walked up to the diner's front door and opened it.

Drakken was washing his hands. He was smiling at the thought of a warm meal. Right now he could eat a horse. His stomach had been growling for the last couple of hours and he needed something to satisfy it quick. As he was drying himself off he thought about what he'd told Shego earlier in the day. He didn't hire her for her beauty. He didn't keep her around because of it. He had noticed that she was a gorgeous woman but looks didn't matter much to the villain. It was Shego's personality that appealed to him. She wasn't clingy like his mother or Amy "DNAmy" Hall. She didn't smother him.

At first he'd hated the fact that she didn't listen to him as often as he wanted her to. How she did things her own way. But he'd grown to tolerate her independence. She was a strong person, in every sense of the word. Bickering with her had become a sort of routine. Something he could no longer see himself without. The blue skinned madman leaned against the bathroom wall. What could she ever see in him? He'd never been popular. He'd always been an outsider. When the other kids in his neighborhood were outside playing he would sit in his room and tinker with little projects, like his Ramp of Doom, or read books.

In school he was considered a "geek". He was a very hard working student who got good grades but he also caused a lot of mischief in the classroom. He'd been a bully in the true sense of the word, picking on children smaller and weaker than he was. The teachers found him to be a very withdrawn person and guessed it was his way of trying to get attention, which, he guessed, it kind of was. Bullies are often bullied themselves and Drakken had been no exception. He'd gotten his fair shear of both physical and psychological mistreatment throughout his school years. It was why he had problems letting people near him now. Being as sensitive as he was the abuse had left it's fair share of mental scarring.


	16. Shego's Thoughts

As Drakken entered the diner he saw that Shego and Sarah had already found a table and were going over the menu. The mad scientist sat down next to his assistant and yanked the menu out of her hands. "Do they have anything good?" he asked her.

"I'd tell you, if you just give me my menu back." she answered, frowning at him.

"Not to worry, Shego." Drakken told her. "I'll be able to find something myself."

Shego folded her arms across her chest and continued frowning. Once again Drakken's inability to empathise showed itself. What did she have to do to get him to realize he was being a insensitive jerk? Couldn't he see she was reading that menu? She wanted to tell him what she felt so badly, but then he might've gotten the idea she cared about how he thought of her and that was ridiculous. She didn't. It would be nice if he did care but she was completely okay with him not doing so. Right?

"So…" Sarah started, looking over at the male villain. "You're a doctor huh? Would you maybe like to give me a full physical?"

Drakken looked at her like she'd offended him, which she kinda had. "What?! What did you just say?" he asked.

Sarah shrugged. "You're a doctor, aren't you? I just thought maybe you could…"

"No. No! Just… no!" Drakken stuttered. "What?! No! That's completely… And asking at the dinner table? There are people around! Shego's sitting right here!"

The brunette shrugged again and leaned over, placing both her elbows on the table and resting her chin in her hands. "You've gotta stop worrying about what other people think, Drew." she said, smiling.

The evil madman twitched before he responded. "I'm not that kind of doctor. My…"

"Doctorate" Shego shot in.

"My doctorate, thank you Sheila, is in computer science and robotics."

"Aha…" Sarah said, nodding. "I guess that explains the freaky skin colors."

It wasn't noticeable but a small vein in Drakken's forehead was starting to bulge.

"Freaky?" he asked, sounding slightly colder than Sarah had heard him before.

Shego was also staring at her with an upset look on her face.

"I'm… sorry." The young woman told them. "I assure you, I didn't mean to insult you. Sometimes I just don't think before I speak. I just… I assumed your unusual colors is a product of some experiment that went wrong or something."

Drakken looked down at the back of his hand. "It is." he said before looking back up at her.

Shego just nodded. She figured it was much easier going along with anything Drakken said than revealing that she'd been hit by a radioactive comet.

Drakken had never told her what had caused him to look like he did, though to be truthful she'd never asked either. She'd seen old pictures of him at his mother's house. As a young man he was kinda spindly looking. His hair looked slicked back in the photos and he was also wearing glasses. From what she'd been able to tell his feet seemed bigger back then and his hands certainly were. He basically looked like the average 80's nerd. She even remembered him having a pocket protector filled with pens on him in some of the photos. Now his hands and feet were smaller. His hair was kind of a spiky mohawk on top now, ending with a ponytail in the back. The three most noticeably different things about him though were his now distinct cheekbones, the fact that he no longer wore any glasses and his light blue skin.

After dinner was over the two women headed back to the car while Drakken stayed behind to complain about the poor service the three of them had received. Sarah was clearly beating herself up about something.

"I'll take the back seat." Shego told her, as she jumped into the vehicle. "Drew'll drive."

"Sheila?" the second female asked as she sat down in the passenger's seat. "Back at the dinner table… How bad did I blow my chances with him?"

Shego couldn't help but smirk a little, though she tried her best to hide it. "Yeah, you did yourself in pretty bad back there, sweetie."

Sarah looked down into her lap. "Do you think he at least likes me?"

"Well…" Shego answered. "He hasn't growled at you yet, and you're still hitching a ride with us, so I'd say so."

The brunette leaned back and looked at the back of Shego's seat. "You think I've still got a shot?"

"Dr. D may lack patience and humor, and he doesn't have the best of tempers." the villainess told her. "But what he does have is forgiveness. I've done a lot of things that have upset him. I've even walked out on him a couple of times. I always end up coming back to him though, and even though he doesn't say a word I know what he's thinking."

Shego wasn't sure why she was telling Sarah this. Maybe, in some way, she was actually telling herself. For the first time, while trying to convince this other woman to date her boss, she realized just how kind he was to her in his own way. She remembered the bond. The silent understanding. How the dynamics worked between them. She'd leave him to work for someone else, fail at her new job and then come back. And he'd let her back in with open arms. If he wanted to he could've made her crawl and beg but he knew her pride was important to her. Instead he'd scowl at her, fold his arms behind his back, let her into the lair and give her some long, boring lecture while stomping around in circles.

Then they'd argue about her salary. Shego smiled as she thought about it. Whenever she asked him for a raise it would always end in a long discussion. Drakken kept reminding her that he had a budget to maintain. That even though he was a criminal he still had to pay bills, taxes and for food. She usually told him that he could throw the bills in the fireplace, or that she could rob a bank but he'd always tell her "I don't need the IRS on my back" and "We're super villains, Shego. Robbing banks is just petty". His morals were so confused and screwed up, and she loved it.

She also had to admit to herself that he did pay her well. The reason the rest of his henchmen were of such poor quality was because most of the money he had left after paying whatever taxes and bills he needed to pay and setting up his plot budget went to her. Being one of the best in her business she didn't come cheap. When he first hired her it'd been all about the money. Their relationship had been purely business and nothing more. Now it was different. They'd slowly grown to become each other's best friends. She cared for him more than anyone else in the entire world. He was just so distant at times. Sometimes she'd want a hug from him. She would've hit him afterwards but she'd still appreciate the hug. But he just wasn't there. He couldn't see how much she needed him to be there for her, though she admitted that she didn't make it easy for him. Without noticing it Shego was biting her lower lip again. She'd been doing it a lot lately.


	17. The Quiz

The three of them spent the night at a motel a few miles down the road from the diner. Luckily enough Drakken had been able to get hold of three separate rooms. After the last couple of days he really needed some alone time. He changed into his pajamas, got into bed and picked up some reading material. It was the same magazine he'd started on while waiting on Shego in her room the day before. He decided to check out one of the articles she'd circled out. It actually turned out to be a quiz, something Drakken was less than fond of. Even so he felt slightly curious and figured he'd give it a chance, and maybe find out more about his assistant's social life.

"What's your taste in men?" Drakken read the title of the quiz out loud and rolled his eyes. Of course. It had to be a love quiz. He sighed to himself before going back to reading. "What is the first thing you notice in a man? Is it A, his sense of humor? B, his personality? C, his body?"

It looked like someone had started checking off option B but then decided to go for C instead. Drakken wasn't surprised. Shego was a very attractive woman and, as he'd learned in high school and college, attractive women didn't date unattractive men. His heart had been broken, crushed on several occasions. He'd never been out on an actual date. The closest thing had been when his mother chaperoned at a high school dance. A night he wanted to forget. Him not having been out with a girl wasn't because of a lack of trying. The few ones who hadn't said no immediately stood him up on the evenings of the dates themselves. To make a long story short, when it came to talking to women his self-esteem was at rock bottom.

The megalomaniac moved on to the next question. "What do you prefer? A, big muscles? B, a big brain? C, big hands?"

Drakken, knowing all too well how fate liked to mess with him, could already guess Shego's answer. He looked down at the answer section. Yep, C again. He almost felt like laughing. Then he suddenly realized her answer made little sense. Big hands? What did big hands have to do with anything at all? The evil mastermind blinked and looked at the magazine confused. "That's like saying he should have big feet." he said to himself while shaking his head. "How does that even work? What does having big hands tell a woman about you? That your mother or father comes from a big-handed family?"

Drakken groaned a little before moving onto the third question. "What's most important to you? That he's A, adventurous? B, sensitive? C, authoritative?"

Drakken guessed she'd answered C again. It wouldn't surprise him. Most of the men Shego'd been with, most of the men he'd seen her flirt with, seemed to be of the strong willed, macho type. He guessed A would be her second choice. Shego got bored very easily. Something he was quite aware of, be cause when she was bored it would usually end in her annoying him to make time pass by. The mad scientist was shocked to find that she'd checked off answer B. "Shego would like the man she's with to be sensitive?" He remembered her saying something bout it earlier in the day but it was still flabbergasting none the less, seeing that she actually meant it.

Any normal, sane person would've realized that going through someone's personal things, like Shego's magazine would be considered rude. Drakken hated impolite people but he wasn't very good at being respectful himself. He wasn't intentionally rude or uncaring. It had to do with the fact that yes, he was insane. A megalomaniac. Unlike most people the part of his brain that let him socialize and interact with others normally wasn't functioning like it should. Empathy was just about non-existent, except when it came to the people closest to him. He had no problem putting millions of lives at stake to get what he wanted. No problem pressing a button that would send all those innocent people to their deaths, grinning madly as he did so. He built and stole weapons designed to cause death and destruction, and he was good at it too. None of his inventions had actually been flawed. They had worked like they were supposed to but Kim Possible always managed to get the upper hand in the end, usually because she had a stroke of luck or because something happened that no-one could have foreseen.

The next question had been anticipated by the evil genius. He'd actually suspected it to be among the three first. "What's most important to you about a man? That he's A, a stylish dresser? B, rich? C, considerate of your feelings?"

Drakken remembered Shego talking about Martin Smarty when she'd broken him out of jail after the one time they'd teamed up with Francis "Frugal Lucre" Lurman. She told Drakken she'd been tempted to leave him for a second. Smarty was rich and she told him that she'd give up her criminal career to settle down with him. She'd quickly changed her mind once she realized he had a son though,. Actually she'd gotten up and left Smarty's house, having lost interest in him immediately.

Why Shego told him that he didn't know. Maybe to point out once again that she could've just left him for good and let him rot in his jail cell. She never did though. Drakken had never been any good at reading between the lines but he also guessed, from what Shego'd told him, that things wouldn't have worked out between Smarty and her anyway. She'd never wanted him. Just his money. If she couldn't put up with the fact that he had offspring she wouldn't have kept her promise to him either, even if she'd gotten rich enough to last her several lifetimes. Shego loved money, but she already had a substantial amount of it. She was a member of the Millionaire's Club after all.

What made Shego the happiest though was excitement and thrills. Breaking in somewhere, getting what she was after and then escaping the clutches of the law. And then there was the business part of it. Fencing off whatever she'd stolen over the black market and make money off of it. She was a great businesswoman. Unlike Drakken she was good with money. She'd actually helped him out financially a couple of times by pointing out good investments to him. It wasn't the money itself that Shego liked about what she did. It was the way she earned it, through criminal activities and by being good at finding the best deals. It was because of that exact reason Drakken wasn't surprised Shego's answer to the fourth question wasn't B. He was however a little amazed that her answer wasn't A either. He knew Shego was a material person. And she hated it when people tried showing her they cared, didn't she? He decided to go over the rest of the questions later. It was late and he needed to get some sleep. He put the magazine aside and turned the lights off. The mad scientist practically fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.


	18. A Brand New Day

All three travelers got up early the next morning. Drakken had to go through his usual morning ritual of showering, shaving and brushing his teeth before he was willing to do anything else. He'd slept well, meaning he was in a fairly good mood compared to how it'd been the last couple of days, and even weeks. This was good news to Shego, as she was slowly starting to lose patience with his crankiness. She liked seeing him annoyed, just not all the time. And it wasn't as much fun when she wasn't the one irritating him. He just didn't have that cuteness about him. Sure he still had the same angry, sometimes fearsome quality about him she found attractive but he also seemed a lot more bitter. In stead of being entertained by his hissy fits she found herself almost wanting him to feel better, unless it was a truly funny situation of course.

Drakken on the other hand had realized a long time ago that Shego annoyed him and gave lip because it was her way of being playful, not because she genuinely tried hurting his feelings. He knew she did it because she was bored and wanted to stir things up a little. Make things a bit more fun around the lair so she didn't have to just sit around, not doing anything. It didn't make it any less annoying, especially if he was trying to get some work done or gloat about one of his plans, but he tolerated it to the best of his abilities. He could do something really horrible to her if he wanted to, but he didn't. He was capable of having her severely punished, but unlike the rest of his henchmen he cared for her. He just wasn't very good at showing it. He'd spent most of his life isolating himself from other people, which was why his social skills were beyond sub par.

The evil genius was good at putting himself in other people's heads, in other people's situations, but he usually just found himself lacking interest in them so he didn't bother. He could read other people's feelings as well, if he tried, but once again he didn't usually do it because he didn't feel the need to. Drakken was very good at showing his own emotions. Anger, hate, sadness and joy. What the madman wasn't good at was dealing with and reacting to other people's feelings. He'd often seen Shego more sullen than usual but wasn't really sure what to do about it. He'd try cheering her up the best he could, but seeing as he'd never been used to having to make someone else feel better before he wasn't very good at it. He didn't know what to say or do. He was lost.

Sometimes Shego'd walk up and stand just a few feet from him, looking very vulnerable and in need of… something. He wasn't able to figure out what exactly she wanted so he just went about his business, hoping she'd go away. Not because he didn't care about her but because he really didn't know to handle the situation. He wished she'd give him a real sign as to what she wanted from him instead of just standing around looking miserable. He wanted to be there for her. He wanted to help her. But to do that he needed her to tell him what was wrong, something she rarely did. Especially not when it came to really important things. She'd sometimes tell him if there was something about her latest boyfriend that bothered her, or if she was unhappy with a pedicure. Small talk came easy to her but her deepest feelings and thoughts were pretty well hidden.

Because of Drakken's good mood he was feeling more talkative than he'd been so far. This pleased Shego, who'd really been missing this side of him the last couple of days, as well as Sarah. Shego liked the angry, no-nonsense side of her boss but she was fond of his softer, happier side as well. It meant that he would talk _to_ her instead of talking _at_ her. No rants or monologs of any kinds. He'd actually take the time to listen to her. She could talk to him about things that weren't work-related and he wouldn't blow her off. Sometimes she'd even get the impression that he really cared about her, which was nice. She often needed him to be more than just her employer. Contrary to what many people believed she didn't have that much of a social life outside work. She liked going to clubs and bars and such. She liked being around people, unlike Drakken. She just didn't get along with others that well, mostly because her sarcastic nature. People could be so sensitive. Drakken was the only one she felt like she could talk to. He was just caught up in himself and his plans too often, and that hurt, even if she didn't want to show it.

Shego was smiling. This was how she'd hoped the vacation would be like. Wind in her hair, being around a non-boring best friend, driving an impressive convertible, enjoying the sun and just feeling that life is good for a change. It'd be perfect, if it wasn't for Sarah. Not that Shego didn't like her. In fact Sarah was one of the few girls Shego'd met that she enjoyed talking to. She had the same sense of humor, the same taste in clothes, the same past history with men. The problem was that right now she had this very rare opportunity to actually get through to Drakken, to have him listen to her, and Sarah was getting most of his attention. Not all but most of it.


	19. Long Drive

"And that's how I got this scar." Sarah concluded, finishing her story as she showed him the old injury on her right calf.

"Must've been quite the gash." Drakken responded.

"Yeah. I doubt it was as bad as that though." the young woman said, motioning at the scar under Drakken's left eye. "How'd you get it anyway?"

"Oh." the mad scientist said. "Well I'll tell you. It happened…"

"Bonding over scars, just like little boys. How sweet." Once again Drakken found himself interrupted by his assistant but unusually enough he just sent her a quick, glare before turning back to Sarah. He didn't even look that annoyed with her. Shego felt confused. Why didn't he growl at her? She decided to try something else.

"Drew and Sarah sitting in a tree K-I-S-S…"

"You used that before, She…ila. On Amy Hall and myself, remember?" her boss pointed out smirking.

Shego scowled and folded her arms. "I'm just having an off day! Okay?"

"Of course you are." Drakken responded, sniggering a little. Oh how she loathed it when he used her own weapon against her. Sarcasm wasn't really Drakken's thing but he made it work occasionally. This was one of those few times.

Shego sighed and decided to focus all her attention on driving. The whole situation with Sarah had suddenly started to feel uncomfortable. That girl wasn't Drakken's sidekick. She was. If anyone was going to get his attention, no matter if it was by annoying him, it was supposed to be her! This just wasn't right. First of all Dr. D was happy, just right out of the blue. Not because of a glass of chocolate milk. Not because of another whacked out scheme. Not because of… her. All he'd needed was a good night's sleep. He wasn't exactly bubbling with joy but he was still feeling better. Secondly he was actually bonding with the new girl, and he had trouble bonding with everyone. What was so special about her? Yes, she was funny and smart, and attractive. Not to mention she had the hots for him, though that was still very much unobvious to the target of her affections. Still, she had only known him for a couple of days. Shego'd known him for several years! Didn't that mean anything to him? She was his best friend wasn't she?

Drakken meanwhile was having a great time. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this comfortable talking to someone other than the woman sitting in the driver's seat next to him. Actually he'd warmed up to Sarah a lot quicker than anyone else he could remember. Even Shego had a hard time doing so, and that was before she started showing her backbone. Sarah was just easy to talk to for some reason. She wasn't as closed up as Shego was about certain things, like her past. Sarah would tell him anything he wanted to know, and even things he didn't want to know. She talked about everything, from fixing car engines to the female menstruation cycle. She told him about her family and how her sister was considered the pretty one. How she really only did her radio gig to make some extra cash during the summer and that she was really a instructor at an art school. Drakken in turn assured her she was a beautiful, young woman and asked if she enjoyed her job. She responded with a big smile, telling him that drawing was her life. It meant more to her than anyone could understand and she was really happy being able to have a job involving what she loved.

"So what kind of plans do you and your sister have after meeting up?" the madman wondered.

"Just hanging out basically. Surfing. Catching some sun. Spending some time together." Sarah answered, still smiling at him.

"You know, Sheila here likes to surf." Drakken stated, surprising Shego a little.

She looked over at him for a second before turning her eyes back to the road.

"No I don't." she uttered before silently cursing herself. Why did she say that? She did like surfing among other beach activities, so why had she undermined Drakken's statement? Was she disagreeing with him just to disagree with him? Why? The villainess glanced at her boss again and had to admit to herself that she already knew the answer. She was actually starting to get jealous of Sarah and how quickly she'd gotten on Drakken's good side. How he seemed to be taking more interest in this girl than he'd ever done with her. She didn't have to do anything to get his full attention. All she did was just talk to him and he would talk back.

"What do you mean you don't?" Drakken asked, yanking Shego back out of her thoughts. "You've told me you do on several occasions!"

"Well… I… I guess." she replied halfheartedly, not making any eye contact.

Drakken looked at her curiously. She'd been pretty silent the last half hour or so. She seemed to almost be lost in her own thoughts, which wasn't like her. "Shelia, are you okay?" he asked, wondering if something was wrong.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You seem a little.."

"I said I'm fine!" the villainess snapped. "Just go back to talking to your new friend."

Drakken shrugged and did as Shego said, deciding it would probably be a lot more fun doing so than trying to pry information from her. She made it so difficult some times that it got to the point of him feeling like it wasn't worth the trouble. Initiating conversations wasn't really his thing anyway, and Shego just made it that much more of a challenge. Sarah on the other hand was very talkative, and even though most of the topics she brought up weren't that interesting he listened to her anyway.

Shego continued scowling. She couldn't understand what made this girl so special. Sarah was funny and all, and had a lot of the same interests as her but still. She felt more neglected than usual. Maybe, just maybe, trying to start a conversation herself would do the trick? A real, deep, meaningful one. She was desperate enough to try anything right now. Listening to the two lovebirds would've been boring enough on its own, but the fact that lately she'd started to realize some of the feelings she had for Drakken weren't just friendly made it virtually unbearable. Was she in love? Shego wasn't so sure she wanted to think about it. She'd always brushed the thought of being with Dr. D off with either a laugh or a shudder, but then again she'd never really given it any serious thought anyway. The more she thought about how she felt about him being with another woman, whether it was Sarah, DNAmy or Warmonga though, the more sullen she became. She wanted him for herself! Him being around guys, like Frugal Lucre, she could handle but when it came to other women it was another story. Shego kept frowning for a long time. Several hours in fact. She almost drove right past the Golden Palm, being all but lost in thought. Sarah was able to point the hotel out to her however, and she felt kind of relieved that the three of them were at their final destination at last. She needed something to drink and a long bath.


	20. Frustration

Drakken hummed as he unpacked the remainder of his belongings from his suitcase. He had plans to order in some room service and spend the rest of the day finishing his Sci-Fi novel, then maybe watch a little TV before going to bed. He decided he'd get a large chocolate sundae as well. The last item to be removed from his suitcase was his beloved teddy bear. He picked it up, looked around to make sure he was alone and hugged it. And it wasn't just a quick embrace either. No he squeezed it as tightly as humanly possible. In fact it was the kind of hug his mother often gave him. The kind he hated receiving because it felt like every bone in his body was being shattered. He knew it but he didn't care. He'd been feeling a lot better today than he'd done in weeks. He didn't know what it was. Partly because he'd had a good night's sleep but there was something else as well. Not Sarah. Although she'd started growing on him she wasn't a good enough friend to have had that kind of effect on him. Shego hadn't really mocked him either, which he kinda missed oddly enough. The madman shrugged it off and turned on the television, settling into the black, fairly large couch. If the TV had been bigger it would've almost felt like home.

His assistant had also finished unpacking, even though she had twice as much luggage as he did. She didn't take her time with it like he had though. Maybe if she'd been in a better mood but right now she pretty much felt like she'd caught Drakken's sour mood from the last few weeks. She was feeling annoyed with him, with Sarah and even with herself. She didn't really know why getting attention from Drakken was so important to her. Sure he was her closest friend but she'd had a lot of friends in her past as well. People who smothered her with both attention and affection. Most of them had been caring, some of them even too much. Too much affection was something Shego wasn't very fond of. She'd never been the sappy type. But with Drakken it was different. He was her only close friend now. The only one she could see herself looking to for comfort. Her relationship with him was in many ways the only stable thing in her life. Certainly the longest relationship she'd ever had with a man, with anyone, outside her family. The problem was that Drakken never seemed to understand how she felt, or he did but didn't take the time to talk to her.

Drakken had just changed channels when someone knocked on his door. "Probably Sarah wanting to talk some more." he thought to himself as he got up and walked over to the entrance, opening the door. "She… Shego?"

The green skinned woman frowned at him. "Well it's not Princess. Or your new girlfriend"

"My new what?" he asked, not really believing what he was hearing.

"You know. Sarah." Shego continued. "Now is she a girl?"

"Well… technically yes." The evil genius answered, still pretty bewildered.

"And she's your friend, right?"

Drakken looked at his assistant. "I have no idea where you're going with this." he told her while giving off a dismissive wave with his right hand.

"Oh come on now Dr. D. It's DNAmy all over again." she said.

"Shego, could you please be a little less confusing? What does Amy Hall have to do with this?"

Shego sighed and let herself into her boss' room. "I need alcohol." she stated.

Drakken wasn't really sure how to handle this situation. Being a mad scientist was like second nature to him but this, this was something else entirely. "Would you like me to call room service? Have them bring up a nice bottle of wine? Or would you rather just help yourself to the mini bar?"

"Wine. Red. Now!" was her less than subtle answer.

"I'll just…" Drakken picked up the phone and dialed room service. "Hey, didn't you say you needed a bath? A long, long bath?" He didn't know what was up with Shego, why she was acting like she was or what he could do about it. All he knew was that he wasn't used to this and he wanted everything back to normal as quick as possible, or at least for Shego to take her bad mood elsewhere.

"Later." the villainess replied, sitting down in the exact same spot Drakken had been resting in just minutes earlier.

The wine arrived shortly after and Shego wasted no time opening it, drinking straight from the bottle.

"Shego, why are you here?" Drakken wondered. "And what's with this sudden craving of alcohol?"

"Relax doc. I'm not gonna finish the entire bottle." she answered. "Look, I'll be outta your hair in no time so don't get your panties in a knot."

"Panties?"

"It's just a saying, doc." she told him, rolling her eyes.

"Oh." he mumbled. "Well you didn't really answer my questions."

"The TV in my room's broken." Shego lied. The truth was she didn't really know what she was doing there. She picked up the remote and started channel surfing until she came upon one of her favorite shows, Thrill Ride. A program about people seeking adrenaline kicks. Drakken just sighed and sat down next to her. "You really bamboozle me sometimes Shego."

"Shush. Watching." the evil woman answered lackadaisically.

"Fine. Maybe Sarah'd like some company instead."

"No!" Shego blurted out, sounding almost desperate for a second. "I mean… I'm sure she'd much rather spend time with her sister than you."

"Whatever." Drakken mumbled. "I'll just go for a walk. I need to be away from you right now. I'm not going to let you ruin my mood. Not this time." He put on a sweater and left the room, slamming the door shut behind him and leaving Shego feeling even worse. She was left alone with her thoughts and feelings. She just had the chance of telling her employer what she really felt about him. How she'd felt lonely in her room and just wanted to spend some time alone with him. How she… wanted him for herself. And she botched it. One part of her felt like crying but the other part was telling her how that was for weak little girly girls, so she did what she usually did when frustrated. She became violent. The first thing to feel her wrath was the TV remote. It burst into flames in her fist as her plasma flared up. Then she blasted the television itself right into the wall behind it. After that she tore apart the kitchen before moving on to the bedroom.

Drakken's walk hadn't taken him far. Just to the hotel bar in fact. He needed a drink himself. He was in a good mood and he was going to celebrate it. He was ordering a glass of scotch from the bartender when he noticed a small stage with a karaoke machine in one of the large room's corners. "You have a karaoke night?"

"Every night is karaoke night here mate." the bartender told him.

"You don't say?" Drakken asked, grinning.

The bartender nodded in reply. "It starts in a couple of minutes if you want to enter."

"You know what? I think I might." the madman chuckled, rubbing his hands together. "What songs do you have to choose from?"


	21. Vulnerable Villainess

Drakken had a great time the entire rest of the evening. By one in the morning he'd been on stage seven times, finished his third glass of whisky and emptied several bowls of peanuts. But none of that mattered. What really made Drakken's spirit soar was how much the crowd loved him. He didn't have to prove anything to earn these peoples' respect. They were complete strangers to him and in many ways that's how he liked it. They didn't come up to him wanting to talk or hug, or bond in any way. No, they gave him positive feedback and then just left him alone. It was perfect. He knew he wasn't the world's greatest singer but that had never seemed to be a problem. The other bar guests loved his slightly hammy stage charisma and cheerful nature. He finished up with 'Hello, Hello, Hello' before he told everyone that he wanted to retire for the evening.

As he walked out into the lobby Drakken bumped into Sarah and her sister, basically a taller version of Sarah with a tan and a nose piercing. "Drew!" Sarah squealed. "I want you to meet my sister, Becks."

"Rebecca actually. Rebecca Jayne Gatt." the older sibling pointed out, holding her hand out so Drakken could shake it. He didn't.

"Oh right." Sarah uttered, smiling sheepishly. "Becky, Drew isn't very fond of shaking hands, or any other forms of physical contact."

Drakken nodded in agreement. "Still, it's really swell to meet you." he told Rebecca.

"Nice to meet you too." she replied. "Sarah's told me a lot about you."

"She has?" Drakken wondered. "But she only met me yesterday."

Rebecca shrugged and smiled. "I think she really likes you." she told him, making his cheeks blush.

"Becks!" Sarah yelled, also looking a bit flustered.

"Sorry kid." her big sister said, shrugging again before turning her attention back to Drakken. "So, blue skin huh? How does that work?"

"Uh…" Was all she got in reply at first. Drakken had suddenly started feeling a little uncomfortable. Again he'd been put in a situation he wasn't used to and he didn't like it at all. "I'm a bit sleepy so… see you two later!" he exclaimed while darting up the stairs to his room.

"I see what you mean." Rebecca told her younger sibling. "He's awfully weird, but in a cute way."

Drakken slid his key card through the slot of the electronically lock on his hotel room door. He figured Shego'd gone to her own room once her program was finished. The first thing he noticed when he opened the door was how dark it was. There wasn't any light emanating from the television set, meaning it had been turned off. "Splendid!" the villain thought to himself as he turned the light switch. Then his jaw dropped. The TV wasn't turned off. It looked like someone had hit it with a sledgehammer, then set it on fire. The wall behind it was charred and damaged and the smoke detector had been ripped right out of it. Drakken's eyes wandered to the kitchenette, which was a total mess and then to the bathroom door. He carefully opened it, dreading the sight to come. The toiled itself was shattered and so was the mirror. Even the bathtub had some minor bulks in it. The evil genius had to steady himself he was so mad. He didn't know what had happened but he knew who was responsible. "She better have left the bedroom unscathed." he hissed to himself as he turned around.

Shego'd done this before. She went on rampages like this once every six months or so, destroying entire rooms in whatever lair they were in at the time then retreating to her quarters for several hours. Sometimes even days. This time it was a hotel room though. A very expensive hotel room Drakken had paid for. His hotel room. She never took her anger out on her own things. Only his, and that had gotten old a long time ago. Drakken didn't care if she did anything to him afterwards. He was going to give her a piece of his mind and it wasn't in a happy place right now. First though he needed to check the bedroom, where all his clothes and his beloved teddy bear was located.

Shego was lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling when the door was practically ripped open. Drakken was fuming, which was expected. He leaned down and picked up a slightly singed but otherwise perfectly fine stuffed bear, gently placing it on the nearby dresser. Then he turned to look at her. She glanced at him quickly, noticing his left eye twitching, before going back to what she'd been doing. Drakken's lips parted, showing a toothy scowl. Then he spoke in a harsh tone of voice. "What's your problem?"

Shego looked at him but didn't respond. She turned away from him instead, facing the bedroom window.

"You do this every so often. Breaking my stuff and then going all quiet. Well I'm sick of it!" Drakken told her before looking down and picking up the bottle of wine he'd ordered in for her earlier in the evening. He turned it on its head and shook it but not one drop fell from the opening. It was dry as a bone. "Drunk too? Well you've really done it this time."

Shego didn't move a muscle. Maybe she was asleep, but this time her boss was too angry to care. "Look at me when I'm scorning you!" he said, grabbing onto her shoulder and yanking her back onto her back so he could see her face.

"Let go of me." his assistant muttered in a broken, shaky voice. She didn't try to shove him away or fight back in any way though. Drakken was right. She was drunk. Drunk and miserable.

"Shego…" Drakken almost whispered, noticing her tear stricken face. "Have you been crying?" His voice was suddenly a lot more gentler and his grip on her shoulder was gentle instead of firm.

"Of course not!" she told him, wiping her eyes with her bare hand. "It's that smelly stuffed toy of yours. It reeks so much my eyes watered up."

"Shego."

"Alright. I… Damn it! You're not supposed to see me like this!" The villainess quickly got up and left the room with her employer trailing closely behind. "Just leave me alone." she sniffed as new tears started forming in her eyes.

"No Shego!" Drakken, said grabbing hold of her wrist and stopping her dead in her tracks. He'd never seen her cry like this before, except for that one time when she was under the moodulator's influence. He hadn't been able to cheer her up then and he probably wasn't going to now either. In fact he hated being put in these kind of situations. But it was obvious his friend was upset about something and he didn't have anything drawing his attention away from her this time. Nothing felt more important to him right now than making her feel better. Plus he still wanted answer, even if she was drunk or not.

The mad scientist sat down on the surprisingly intact couch, patting the area next to him. His sidekick shook her head, wiping away the tears that just seemed to keep coming. "I'll stand." she said.

"Shego, give it up." Drakken told her. "Just stop it. You're a tough woman but this is ridiculous. We both know something's wrong so spit it out."

"Stupid, stupid tears!" Shego mumbled as she sat down next to him. She felt she'd been betrayed by her own emotions. Now Dr. D would know that she had feelings.

"Oh please." he said, almost as if he'd read her mind. "I know what your thinking, and that's stupid. I've known ever since I first met you. You know why? You're human Shego. Just like me. Just like your brothers. Just like everyone else!"

"How can you be so sure?" the evil henchwoman asked. "You don't know me at all if you think I..."

"I wasn't at the top of my psychology class for nothing." Drakken interrupted. "Now usually you're closed up tighter than Fort Knox, but right now I can tell there's a problem. Now please Shego, let me be here for you. Tell me!"

Shego didn't really know what to do. Although Drakken was finally showing some actual concern for her, being what she needed him to be like, she was feeling disgusted with herself. She wasn't supposed to be emotional like this, showing her feelings. Now he'd know she was just as weak as everyone else. No matter how hard she tried though she wasn't able to keep a straight face. Apparently the wine was having an undesirable affect on her. Finishing the entire bottle had seemed like a much better idea half an hour or so ago than it did right now.

"Oh to heck with it." she thought. "I really do kinda need one right now." Shego put her arms around Drakken and hugged him.

"Uh…" was all he managed to say, wondering what was going on. "Shego, you're touching me. Why?"

"Shut up and hug me." she told him.

Drakken hesitated for a second. Shego'd never been the huggy type, and he was quite certain she knew he wasn't either. But she was crying, and probably needed some form of support right now. He sighed and put his arms around her as well, embracing her softly. It was sort of nice really. Not like the other kind of hugs he'd gotten. It didn't feel like she was trying to break his back. It was soft yet firm. She wasn't squeezing him. Just holding him close, resting her chin on his shoulder. It felt good being held like this. Being able to comfort her. Being needed. He hugged her tighter.

Shego was starting to calm down. She'd never imagined herself actually hugging Drakken. She'd wanted him to _want _to hug her but she'd never thought about him going through with it. Now that he was holding her just as tightly as she was holding him she finally felt appreciated. Like he was there for her. She knew that he really cared. She wasn't just his pawn, or tool. He was actually making her feel like an equal.

Shego's cheek left Drakken's as her head moved from his shoulder. She still had her arms around him as she looked him in the eyes. "I don't know if it's the alcohol talking or what but… thanks for… I dunno… Just thanks ." she said, giving a meek smile.

Drakken blushed a little. It was the first time he'd hugged someone in such an intimate way. "No… No problem Shego. Any time. You're my friend you know. I don't say it very much but you're one of the few people who actually get me. Even if we do argue most of the time, even if you annoy me to the point of wanting to set fire to your personal effects I still like having you around."

He expected her to laugh a little, or maybe just nod. He even expected a snarky comment about him being stupid and way too much of a sap. What he didn't expect was her kissing him, but she did. It wasn't a small peck on the cheek either. It was a real honest-to-God kiss, right on the lips. He could taste her lipstick and traces of wine and feel the soft, moist texture of her lips but before he was able to react it was over. Actually he probably wouldn't have reacted no matter how long the kiss lasted. He was pretty much like a deer caught in headlights. In shock of what just happened.

"I'm pretty worn out." Shego suddenly stated, getting up from where she'd been sitting. She was pretty much sounding like her old self now, except for being under the influence.

"Uh huh…" Drakken agreed, not really knowing what he was saying. His mind was racing a hundred miles an hour and his thoughts were all over the place.

"I think I'll hit the hay. G'night chief." the woman said before leaving for her own room.

"Uh… Yes, right. Bed. Good night Shego…"


	22. Waking Up

Shego slept in late the next day. Not surprising considering how intoxicated she'd been. When she woke up around noon she felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to her head. In fact it felt like that someone was still going at it. No wait, now it felt more like a sledgehammer. She could hear it actually, banging away against her temple. Shego's eyes slowly fluttered open. The sledgehammer actually turned out to be someone knocking on the door to her room. She slowly got out of bed, moaning slightly as she put her robe on over her pajamas. "Yeah yeah. Wait a second will ya?" she grunted in the direction the obnoxious pounding was coming from.

"Shego, open the door. It's me." she heard Drakken's voice exclaim outside in the hallway. The villainess dragged herself over to the door and opened it slightly ajar, looking into her employer's eyes.

"You look terrible." he told her, letting himself in. Then he handed her a paper cup smelling of… "Coffee. Black. Just what you need after yesterday."

Yesterday. Yeah she remembered what happened the night before. She'd been drunk but not totally wasted. Shego grabbed the cup and swallowed down some of it's contents while trying to figure out what to say.

"Look, Shego, about last night…" Drakken started before his assistant had a chance to open her mouth. "You clearly had a lot to drink and weren't thinking straight. But I forgive you."

Shego put her left hand to her aching head as she tried clearing her thoughts, holding her disposable coffee cup in the right. "What? What do you mean you forgive me?"

"You kissed me, remember?" Drakken asked, having an almost worried expression on his face.

"Yes, and?"

"And… I forgive you." he said once more.

The green skinned woman gulped down another mouthful of hot, black liquid before responding. "Doc, I'm really not following you."

"You…"

"Yeah. We kissed. I got it. I was there. I remember." Shego interrupted.

Drakken looked utterly confused, so much so that if his sidekick wasn't hung over she'd probably be making fun of his expression. How could he not be making perfect sense? He opened his mouth again. "Shego, I forgive you for kissing me."

Shego's eyes went from being half shut to flying wide open. "What are you talking about, you forgiving me for kissing you?" she asked, her voice flaring up with what seemed to be anger.

"Well, you know… I don't know…" the villain stuttered while twiddling his index fingers. "What if it had changed things between us or something?"

The woman just scowled at him. "It was just a kiss Drakken! It didn't mean anything."

"Alright." the madman gulped. "I believe you."

"Wonderful." Shego replied in a sarcastic tone. "Now take this and get out." she said, throwing him the empty paper cup. "I wanna get showered and dressed."

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Shego thought to herself as she turned on the shower. Why was everything so much clearer and simpler when one was under the influence of alcohol? Why did consequences always have to appear after the fact? Did she regret the kiss? She wanted to but she didn't. Part of her could still feel his lips on hers, and how soothing kissing him was. In her drunken state she'd given into weakness and found comfort in Drakken. He'd been there for her when she needed him the most. It had just felt right. She couldn't think of anyway else to describe it. It hadn't been like any other kiss she'd ever had. It was different than locking lips or making out. It wasn't just a physical act. Even though Drakken didn't return the kiss it still felt good. She could see herself do it again if the situation ever called for it. Of course the problem was that he made it very clear that she'd made a mistake by kissing him. That he didn't want her to do it again. So she'd told him it was just a kiss and that there was nothing more to it than that. She'd only told him what he wanted to hear to put his mind at ease. She'd lied.

"And why was he so upset about it anyway?" Shego wondered silently to herself as she worked shampoo into her long, wet hair. "Why would he think I needed or wanted his forgiveness? Just because I got a little drunk? So what? It doesn't mean I didn't know what I was doing. My head was clear as day! It was my self-control that was lacking. I needed to kiss him right then so I did. And now he's acting like it was all a big mistake when he could've just let it go and pretended it never happened."

The monologue inside her head continued as she rinsed herself off. "What's his deal? Doesn't he like being kissed? We're coworkers, I know. But still, he makes me feel so… unattractive. Every other guy, I'm able to turn their heads. Wrap them around my little finger. But him… Why can't he be like the rest?"

Shego stepped out of the shower and wrapped both herself and her hair in a couple of towels before putting on a bathrobe. The shower and coffee had both helped her feel better but she still decided she'd take things easy. She called room service and ordered some lunch and a handful of magazines to read before settling down in front of the 'broken' television. The villainess felt like laughing so she started looking for a good sit-com but ended up channel surfing again. In the end she ended up checking out a show Drakken had talked about a couple of times, Ballroom With B-Actors. It wasn't her kind of show really but there was nothing else on except talk-shows with overweight, annoying hosts talking about everything and nothing all at once. Mostly nothing. Still, it was better than the last soap Dr. D had been watching, Agony County. This one actually had a believable plot as far as she could tell. At least at the moment.

After finishing her meal of chicken Shego decided she had nothing else to do so she got out her trusty file and started working on her nails. Just like Drakken and his teeth Shego took very much pride in her nails. She filed them constantly whenever she took her gloves of, which was kind of ironic seeing as she was often filing the claws on those too. They always had a fresh coat of nail polish as well, usually black or a dark red. Even though Shego's 'tough gal' image was important to her she was still very feminine. She loved her nails and long hair, how good she looked in a short dress and how sexy she felt in a bikini. Of course she wasn't allowed to wear one around Drakken so whenever she wanted to use the tanning bed or go to the mud room she had to settle for her old one-piece. It bothered her that she wasn't able to wear exactly what she wanted but she didn't make a big deal out of it. She just used it as another of her many excuses to annoy her boss. The reason he didn't want her to wear a bikini wasn't because he thought it would distract him. Truth to be told Shego doubted it would have anyway. Drakken just wasn't a man that would leer. Sure he'd probably notice it but he'd keep away from her rather than anything else. Maybe even lock himself in his bedroom. Shego smirked to herself at the thought of being able to make the madman so uncomfortable he'd actually leave the room. How was he ever going to survive going to the beach?


	23. All These Thoughts

What Shego didn't know was that Drakken was In fact going to the beach. He'd gone back to his room and put on a pair of shorts and some sun lotion. He wanted to take a walk around the block and explore his new surroundings a little first though. Actually he wasn't paying as much attention to the surroundings as he was thinking. The original intent of the walk was quickly lost to him as his mind kept wandering back to Shego, his relationship with her and what had happened the previous might. Maybe the real reason he decided to do this before heading to the beach was because he needed a little time to himself. Just him and his thoughts. Shego had really put him on the spot by doing what she did. She'd created this situation for him that he wasn't really able to see himself getting out of.

On one hand the kiss had been pure bliss. He remembered the softness of her lips. The gentle sighing noise that escaped her vocal cords, letting him know she was actually pleased even though she was the one doing the work. The way she'd clutched onto his sweater like letting go of him would've killed her. On the other hand it had woken something inside him. New feelings for her, or maybe feelings that had really been there all along and were just hidden. He knew that if she'd given him the chance he would've kissed her back. Well, at least if she hadn't been drunk. He'd never take advantage of anyone in that state, especially not his closest friend. She meant too much to him. The bad news was that not only wasn't he really sure how to handle these feelings but Shego'd just basically told him it was really only a drunken mistake. Not that he was surprised. She was a gorgeous young woman with a good, strong head on her shoulders and he was an unattractive loser. How could someone like her ever see something in him? Not only that but he was her boss. It would only complicate their already established relationship.

He didn't want to have these newly discovered feelings. They changed things and he didn't like change. He'd found his position with her a long time ago. Now it was like everything had been turned upside down and he felt like he was back to barely being able to interact with her, like things had been between them when they first started working together. It had taken him a long time warming up to Shego. At first he'd treated her like the rest of his minions, either giving her orders or yelling at her. The rest of the time he gave her no attention at all. Slowly he'd let her more and more into his 'inner circle'. Of course the better she got to know him the more spunky and sassy she became. Drakken guessed it was her settling in as well, getting more and more comfortable with being herself around him. But now, every second he spent in her room today he felt so uncomfortable he wanted to hide under a blanket.

He'd said what he'd said not because he didn't want things to evolve any further between them but because his relationship with Shego was the one thing he treasured the most he wasn't going to risk losing it. Without her he was, in fact, all alone and that was something he didn't want to experience again. He'd gone without friends long enough before meeting her. Granted, she lacked the same enthusiasm he had for world conquest and she wasn't a fan of deep, serious conversations. Also she could be very uncaring at times but still, she came through for him when she needed him the most. Unlike usual, whenever he was really down, she wouldn't just roll her eyes at him or make a nasty remark. She'd actually give him little pep talks, or at least try lifting his spirit in some way. One time he'd even tried making her more obedient by attaching a neural compliance chip to her forehead, but although it was fun not having someone talking back at him he found it boring after just a few hours. He'd started to miss the real her. Even when she complimented him it just didn't feel right. She'd been like some soulless automaton, and Drakken found out that one should in deed be careful what one wishes for. Now he wouldn't trade what he had with her, whatever it was, for the world.

After having walked for about half an hour Drakken came to the realization that he was about two miles from the hotel, as well as the beach. He stopped at a bagel stand and got himself an onion bagel with plenty of cream cheese. Pondering about a relationship with someone had sure given him a hearty appetite. After wolfing down the small meal he grudgingly asked a local the way back to the Golden Palm. On the way back the mad scientist passed a clothing store and decided to pop in for just a second. Normally Drakken hated shopping for clothes but he was in need of some beach wear. The shorts he'd brought were nice and all but he felt awkward wearing them to the beach. Well, geeky to be more precise. The reason was that his mother had bought them for him a couple of years back as a birthday present. She'd also gotten him new socks and underwear but that was irrelevant. The point was that after thinking about it new shorts and t-shirts were needed.

Drakken walked around the store and picked out some new shorts he liked before approaching the girl behind the counter, who was clearly more interested in talking on her cell phone than actually doing her job. "Yes, hello. I'd like to buy these…"

"Just a minute please." The girl answered before going back to her cell phone. "Jonathan said what? No way? He's such a jock, right? Yeah, I honestly wonder what Erica sees in him. I mean, seriously."

After another few minutes of the girl chatting, gossiping and talking smack about others she finally ended her call.

"That took time." Drakken pointed out.

"Yeah well there's not much you can do about it." the young woman pointed out. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to spread word about what Jonathan told the cricket team's coach."

"What?"

"Shush. Talking." she told the villain, holding up a finger to silence him.

Drakken glared at the girl and folded his arms across his chest. "Is this going to take just as long?"

"What did I just say?"

"But…"

"Quiet!"

Drakken could feel his blood starting to boil inside him. He'd never been good at keeping calm and this girl was working his nerves. He was a customer after all, and customers always come first no matter what. But apparently that didn't matter to this young lady. She was just about the rudest person Drew Lipsky had ever come across, and rude didn't sit well with him. "Hey now! I'm a customer!"

"Would you hush up already? I'm trying to carry a conversation here!" the girl whispered harshly before going back to the phone. "Yeah, sorry Dana. There's this guy here. He thinks he owns the store or something."

The evil megalomaniac finally lost his short temper and yanked the cell phone right out of the impolite teen's hand. "Hello, Dana is it? Never mind. Don't care. This is the guy. Your friend, whoever she is, will call you back in a moment." Then he hung up. "Now you're free to deal with me, a very unhappy customer… What's your name?"

"Tammy." the girl said, slightly taken aback at the extreme nature of this stranger's temper.

"Tammy, I want to talk to you about customer service and politeness. First of all I'm not having a good day today..."


	24. The Beach

Our favorite mad scientist left the store feeling a little better. Truth to be told he knew he hadn't been patient with the young girl behind the counter. He'd used her impoliteness as an excuse to take his confused, frustrated feelings out on her. He'd spent a good half hour yelling at and ranting to her for not doing her job. When she'd tried to speak he growled at her to be quiet and listen, which she did. She listened to his whole story about how this most annoying, aggravating, vexing, irritating woman on the face of the earth was acting even more confusing than usual. How she kissed him the night before and now told him to forget the whole thing. How he wasn't sure about his own feelings about the whole situation, or for her for that matter. How even though he was trying as hard as he possibly could he wasn't able to figure out what she wanted or expected from him. Then, eventually, he got to her and how customers should be treated. He went on about how no-one shows respect for other people anymore and how most people could stand to be more polite in general. After threatening to give her the brainwashing of her life he finally started to calm down. Drakken spent a few more minutes in he shop, picking out two pairs of boardshorts and a couple of t-shirts, before paying and leaving.

When he came back to the hotel the villain hurried to his room. He wanted to get changed quickly before Shego noticed he was back. He didn't really feel like having to spend time having another awkward conversation with her. He just wanted to get into one of his new shorts and get to the beach. After going over his two choices when it came to what to wear he decided to go with the red one with black borders and motif. He'd save the pure black one for later. As he left his room he could hear noises from the room next door. Shego's room. Obviously her broken television had been replaced. It was good news though. It meant she was in there and not somewhere he could possibly run into her. The hotel itself was practically right on the beach. He only had to walk a couple of hundred feet before he found a place to fold out the beach towel he'd brought and settle down.

Drakken had never exactly been to the beach a whole lot so he didn't really know what to do. After covering himself in sun lotion he gave sunbathing a try. It was nice. He could certainly understand why Shego liked it. It just wasn't his thing. He wasn't used to lying still for long, unless he was sleeping. It was kind of boring, relaxing yes but boring. Drakken wasn't great at not doing anything. He really needed something to keep him occupied. It didn't have to be a whole lot, just anything really. An hour went by, painfully slow. As he was soaking up the sun's rays, sunglasses covering his closed eyes, someone slowly started approaching him.

"Look Sarah, it's that guy you like. Guess he is blue all over, huh?"

"Shut up, Becky! He might hear you!"

Rebecca shrugged at her little sister. "So?" she asked. "He'd just be flattered to know we've talked about him."

Drakken could feel blood flowing to his cheeks. Yes he did feel flattered, but embarrassed more than anything. He could tell who it was even though he kept his eyes closed. Their voices gave them away.

Rebecca continued, grinning. "Nice chest. Strong arms. Flat stomach. Yeah, if you like him I say go for it. At least he has a nice body."

"Becks!" Sarah whispered harshly.

"Hey, if I wasn't your sister I'd go for him myself. He's got this badboy look about him that you know I like."

Sarah scowled at her sister. "Let's just do what we came over here to do, okay?"

"Sure." Rebecca smiled before nudging Drakken's leg with her own foot. "Hey Drew!"

Drakken removed his sunglasses, looking less than amused. "Yes?"

Sarah stepped forward, drawing his attention away from her sister. "We were wondering if you'd like to play some beach volley with us?"  
"Uh… Me? I mean… Me?" Drakken asked bewildered. "You want… me? Why?"

"Well you look like you keep in shape and we need a fourth player."

"I only see two of you." Drakken stated calmly. "Where's number three?"

"Oh, our fourth player is waiting by the net." Sarah answered. "Come on Drew. It'll be fun!"

"Well…" Drakken hesitated. "I'm no good at sports¨."

"You don't need to be. We're not keeping score or anything. It's just for fun." Rebecca was quick to point out.

Drakken nodded. Anything would be better than lying still, even if it meant he would have to break a sweat. "Alright, sure. I'll join."

"Sweet." Sarah grinned. She'd never say it out loud but she was looking forward to see the blue man's body working, and sweating. She reached down and gave him her hand, which used to pull himself up from the ground.

After following the two young women through a crowd that seemed like it was made up of just about every person on the beach Drakken reached the volley ball net, and could finally see who the last player was as she approached him, Sarah and Rebecca. "Shego?!"

"Doc?"

"… 'Shego'?" Sarah asked, her gaze switching back and forth between the two villains. "So is that like a nickname or something?"

"Uh, yeah. Yes it is." Drakken told her, still surprised to see his assistant out of her room and in a bikini. Shego kind of just stood there. She didn't say anything, but instead looked just as uncomfortable as Drakken felt. She was hugging herself, like one does when one feels cold or insecure, and she was looking pretty much straight down into the sand.

"Is everything alright with you two?" Rebecca wondered, noticing the awkward silence between the two villains.

"Uh, Sheila got pretty drunk last night. She's probably not up to a valley ball match right now."

"Hey!" Shego complained. "These two came to my room and asked me if I wanted to join them. If I wasn't up for it I wouldn't be here in the first place, Sport." Suddenly the villainess seemed a lot more confident. "Or, wait." she grinned. "You're tryin' to chicken out aren't ya? Yeah, usin' me as an excuse not to play. What's the matter Chief? Scared I'm gonna wipe the beach with your blue butt?"

"Nghnnn… Oh you're on, Shego!"


	25. Awkward Attraction

Shego gritted her teeth. How could this have happened? How could she have lost, and to him, in something that required physical effort? Sure beach volleyball was about the only beach activity she wasn't great at but she'd still been certain she'd be able to beat… him. As it turned out Rebecca, who she'd been teamed up with after Sarah pretty much lay claim on Dr. D as her team mate, was just as bad as she was. The younger of the two siblings was a master at it though. She'd been dominating the game from the get go. And further more, and what actually surprised her was that the doc was a natural at serving. He'd hit the ball like a pro, compared to her at least. She almost felt cheated of her victory. In some way she should've known, no, he should've known and he should've told her. Told her he'd be this good, or something. Then losing to him wouldn't have been so bad. The worst part had yet to come though. She knew him well enough to know what'd happen next. The smug grin on his face. The gloating. Rubbing it in her face that he'd beaten her at her own game, a physical activity.

"Good game Shego." The words escaped Drakken's lips quickly, his tone of voice being softer than usual.

Shego couldn't believe what she was hearing. Where was the "Haha, in your face Shego!" she'd been expecting? The "I win! You lose!" and "Who's the man with the plan?" followed by some childish, small victory dance? Sure she'd hated him doing so more but at least she'd known how to react. This was… She wasn't sure what it was. Certainly not what she'd expected to hear from Dr. D, who, nice as he was, could be a belittling jerk.

Sure she was too, but he did it without even knowing it. She always did it intentionally, knowing exactly how much she'd hurt the other person. Him though, not so much, which actually made it even more cruel. In a lot of ways her boss was the more naturally mean-spirited of the two. Maybe because he was filled with more hate than her. She didn't really hate anyone herself. Disliked yes, but not hate. She just didn't care about people. The doc on the other hand, he was mad at the world, and it showed itself through how he talked to people. Well, talked _at_ or down at them really. It was a pretty big part of the reason why people didn't approach him. Yes, he could be very positive and enthusiastic about something, or turn on his charm when he felt like he needed to, but usually he'd be scowling, ranting, growling and act just about as arrogant and unapproachable as humanly possible. He truly was better with machines than humans. It was this fact which caused Shego to be surprised at what he'd just said. At first the villainess wasn't really sure how to respond. What was she going to say? "Thanks"? No, she wanted to say something back that didn't sound mushy but still showed him she appreciated his concern for her ego.

"I… Uh… Yeah." Shego eventually responded. It was the first time the two of them had spoken since before they started playing. It had been an awkward match for both. Neither of them had actually looked at each other during the game. They'd both been caught up in the moment, wanting to meet the other person's challenge. They'd both been too stubborn to back down, and for just a moment it was as if nothing had h.appened. But something had happened, and they both knew it. Something big. Shego wanted to say something else, anything else, but she didn't know what. She'd said what she felt needed to be said earlier that day. Not what she really wanted to say but it couldn't be helped. Now it was back to the uncomfortable silence she'd felt when he surprised her earlier, croaking her name in shock. Once again her right hand found it's way to her upper left arm and once again she decided to stare down at her own feet in the sand rather than risking looking her employer in the eyes. Her employer who she had seen in shorts before, but not out in the sun on a beach like this. He looked, well, good. Or? She couldn't help herself and stole another quick glance while he was talking to Sarah and Rebecca. Yes, good. The small drops of sweat covering his broad chest and big arms did their trick as well. They kinda helped defining his muscles. Muscles she'd noticed before but not really paid attention to.

Drakken on his part had been sneaking peeks at his assistant as well. He'd seen her in a bathing suit before but not a bikini. He didn't want to stare… no, that would be impolite… but he couldn't help himself. Her mint colored skin was flawless, glowing almost. There was something about the way she looked. Maybe it was just the fact that he wasn't used to seeing her with so little on. This was different than her one-piece bathing suit, and certainly more so than her jumpsuit or casual clothes. Things were actually more… noticeable. He could see her hips. Her sides. The full length of her stomach. It was like watching a car accident. He wanted to look away but just wasn't able to. Not for long anyway. The madman blushed as he realized what he was doing and tried shaking off the slightly dazed feeling. This was Shego after all. He had no business looking at her like that. Not in a million years. He silently cursed himself for doing so. "Sassafras!"

"What?" Rebecca asked.

Okay, maybe he hadn't been that silent. "Uh, no… I mean… It's nothing. Really."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No. I just need some time alone or something. Just…" Drakken just turned his back to the three women and walked away.

"I still think someone should talk to him." Rebecca stated, putting her hands on her hips. "Something's bugging him."

"I'll go!" Sarah told her sister, leaving Shego and her behind as she ran in the direction the blue skinned man had gone trying to catch up to him.

"I guess that leaves you and me, huh?" Rebecca asked her newest acquaintance, who seemed lost in her own thoughts.

Sarah followed Drakken as best she could but didn't manage to catch up with him before he'd reached his destination, the hotel bar.

"Hey! Look who's here!" the bartender grinned. "Ready for another night of karaoke?"

The evil genius slumped down on one of the barstools in a haphazardly manner, grunting. "Just bring me some whiskey, the Irish stuff, and leave the bottle."

He downed the glass of strong tasting beverage as soon as the bartender put it down in front of him.

"Drew?" Sarah asked, sitting down next to him.

"Yes?"

"You and Sheila, you seemed pretty uncomfortable around each other back there."  
"We did? Well… yes, you'd be correct." Drakken confirmed, pouring himself a second glass and swallowing down half of it. "About me at least."

"But you weren't yesterday, on the drive up here. What happened?" the brunette enquired, putting her right hand on top of his left one.

"I don't really know. It all just happened so fast. Well actually I do know what happened. I just don't know why it happened!" Drakken explained.  
Sarah gave him a bemused look. "Why what happened?"

* * *

**Authors Note:** I want to thank Ninnik Nishukan for helping me with a very important part of this chapter. Without her I'd been stumped. She also writes D/S. You should all check out her story "Maslow". It's pure, concentrated awesomness!


	26. Realizing The Truth

Rebecca unlocked the door to her and Sarah's room and let herself and Shego in. It was basically the same room as the one the villainess had except with two single beds instead of a single queen sized one.

"You want a beer?" the brunette asked, walking over to the small fridge and opening the door.

Shego shook her head. "Nah, I'll be staying away from any form of alcohol for a long, long, looooong time."

"Sure." Rebecca answered, sitting down in one of the two chairs positioned at the coffee table with an aluminium can in her hand. "Sit down. Take a load off. We came in here to escape the heat, remember?"

"Yeah." the mad scientist's assistant replied, still looking like she was lost in her own thoughts.

"You like him, don't you?"

"What?" Shego asked, sitting down on the nearby couch. "Like who?"

"Your boss. Drew." Rebecca continued.

"Dr. D?" Shego rolled her eyes. "Not this again. I've already explained things to your sister."

"I'm not as easily fooled as Sarah." the brunette went on. "From how you looked at him back there, and the tension between you two, I'd say there's something going on. Whether you'd like to admit it or not."

"No, see, ya don't get it." Shego exclaimed. "Dr.D and me, we've been friends for a long time. A long, loooooong time. Even 'friends' is a strong word. More like I let him drag me along to boring, embarrassing stuff and then forgets I'm even there. He says I'm his best friend, that I'm family even, but sometimes I wonder exactly how much I mean to him. If he thinks of me as an equal."

"So…" Rebecca concluded. "You want to be more to him than just his employee?"

"No. I mean…" Shego hadn't thought of it like that before, or she had but hearing this woman she'd just met say it out loud made it different somehow. "I don't know."

"What do you want from him?"

The green skinned woman gave a slight shrug. "A pat on the back maybe. A 'good job, Shego'."

Rebecca nodded and was about to reply but found herself interrupted.

"Him telling me I'm a good assistant. That he actually needs me. Not just anyone, but _me_. That he cares about me." Shego continued. She didn't really know why she was telling this woman all of this. This was information she hadn't shared with anyone, not even the person closest to her. Well that was a given really since it was about him. Anyway telling Rebecca all of this felt easier than it should've. She never shared her thoughts with anyone. What was so different about this person? The only explanation she could come up with was that Rebecca didn't know who she really was, and that they'd probably never see each other again once this trip was over. They were practically strangers to one another and that kinda made it easier. It also felt good finally getting these things off her chest. After the first few sentences she hadn't been able to help herself and just kept on going. Maybe she'd regret it later but right now it felt good getting it all out in the open. That even her, as much of a loner and tough gal she was, needed to feel like someone actually cared about her. She could probably just threaten Rebecca to keep quiet anyway. Even make sure she did. A small smirk appeared on Shego's face as she thought about it. Revealing secrets had some perks to it.

"Have you told him how you feel?" the younger of the two women asked.

"What?" Shego wondered. "Told who? Dr. D? No, of course not."

"Why not?"

"He's a big boy. He's supposed to figure this stuff out on his own."

"Sheila, he's not a mind reader, and from what Sarah's told me you're pretty hard to read anyway. Tell him. What do you have to lose?"

"Oh, I don't know. My dignity? My rep? My job?" Shego asked rhetorically.

"And to gain?"

"His…" the villainous sidekick suddenly realized what she was about to say. "Oh no. No, it's not like that. It can't be."

Rebecca smiled, almost as if she knew what was going through the other woman's head. "Can't be what?"

Shego hid her face in her hands, groaning. "I need to be alone." she said, getting up and walking towards the door. "Oh…" she turned around for a second and sent Rebecca a menacing look before leaving. "Tell anyone about our little girl talk and I'll make sure you won't speak to anyone ever again."

After entering her own room Shego lay down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was unusual for her, but so were these thoughts. She wasn't really a person who dwelled on things. That was more Dr. D's thing and she was always telling him he was doing too much thinking, or talking for that matter. For the first time since the kiss she was actually really wondering why she'd done it. At the moment it had felt right, and she hadn't regretted it so far. She'd wanted to do it and she'd done it, and it was good. Better than she'd expected. She'd be wanting to do it again. Yes, that's what she really wanted. To kiss him a second time, or more. To be kissed back. She swallowed. She'd been kissed many times, by several men, but those kisses… They hadn't really meant anything. They were just that, kisses. The kiss she'd given Drakken though, it had been more than that. More than just the physical act. It had been soothing. Some kind of void had been filled once their lips had met. It had just felt right. Like her lips were meant to be on his. Like they belonged there. Speaking of which, they were dry. Shego licked them. She could still taste him. The villainess sighed. She knew what she had to do. What she wanted to do, no matter how absurd it seemed. She didn't know where her employer was but she had to find him, right now. Maybe Sarah was all over him at this point. Who knew? It didn't matter anyway. She wasn't going to get him without a fight. Maybe yesterday she would have, but not now. Not anymore. "Enough thinking." The green skinned woman jumped out of bed and quickly changed into a sweater and a pair of pants. "Time for action."

Back at the bar Drakken took a deep breath. Had Shego made him promise not to say anything? He couldn't remember. Frowning, like usual, he finished his second glass and turned to face Sarah. "She…eila. She kissed me."

Sarah looked bemused at him, like she didn't quite understand what he'd just said. "She did?"

Drakken nodded and poured his third glass. "I wasn't prepared for it at all. It, well it wasn't right out of the blue. Maybe I should've seen it coming. She was… She had been drinking after all."  
Sarah removed her hand from his. "Then what happened?"

"I don't know. Nothing I guess. She just went to bed. It's just…"

"Yes?"

"If she'd not been under the influence, if she'd given me more time, I think I might've kissed her back. Her lips were so sweet and inviting. Soft, warm and moist." Drakken continued, his left hand balling itself into a fist. "But it was a mistake, nothing more. Me and her, we've always been employer and employee. Maybe friends. I don't know. She's an enigma."

Sarah looked at him, taking in his every word and expression. "What do you mean?"

"Sometimes she just seems so unreachable. Closed off." the madman answered. "I'm never really able to tell what she wants from me. If she wants anything at all. I always have to guess."

The young woman sighed to herself. "What do you feel about her? How do you see her?"

Drakken's eyes were focused on the golden brown liquid in his glass as he answered. "She's my best friend. The best I've ever had. She's always there for me when I need her the most. She knows when to be tough, when to pull me back down to earth and when to give me pep talks. Apart from mother she's the only one I really think of as family."

"So you… love her?" Sarah wondered.

The mad scientist turned to face her. "I… I do?"

Sarah shrugged. "Look Drew, I like you, a lot. You're cute. The thing is I'm not getting the same vibe from you."

"I like you."

"The same way you like Sheila?"

Drakken paused a little before answering. "Sheila's… special."

"The kissable kind of special?"

The madman blinked. "I… Oh snap. I'm in love with her, aren't I?"


	27. It All Comes Together

It was a big hotel, and Drakken could've been anywhere, but Shego had a hunch. Waiting for an elevator was just a waste of time. They were too slow. She decided to take the stairs instead. Thoughts were racing through her mind as she ran down the steps. How was she going to tell him? What was she going to say? It was going to be hard for her, but she knew she couldn't stay silent any longer. She was surprised at herself. This wasn't something she could ever have seen herself do. Not that having these feelings for her boss was something she'd been expecting either. It was so confusing, all of it. She'd known for a while, but had tried ignoring it. She'd been in denial. Two days ago she'd practically told him what, well rather who, she wanted and but she still hadn't really believed it herself. She didn't know exactly how long she'd been wanting more from Dr. D, wanting him to be more than just her boss and friend. She couldn't pinpoint the moment when she'd gone from thinking he was just the short tempered, easily annoyed geek who signed her pay checks to someone she wanted more from. Comfort and closeness, beyond that of what she'd get in an employer-employee relationship. Even beyond what he provided as a friend. She knew she wanted something more intimate. She just hoped she wouldn't end up pushing him away like usual now that she'd finally decided to let him know the truth.

Drakken's forehead rested against the top of the bar counter, a small frown slowly appearing on his face. The villain groaned to himself, thinking about what he'd realized only a minute ago. "Just great." he muttered.

"Alright…" Sarah was still sitting next to him, watching and listening.

"How could this happen?" Drakken asked. "How could I fall for the one woman who… I mean look at me, then look at her. She's, well, attractive and I'm… me." He finished his third and final glass of whiskey and looked at the brunette sitting beside him. "This is just typical you know. Of course I've got to go have romantic feelings for the one person, the one single person, who likes to go for guys who are the total opposite of me. She'd never 'like me' like me."

Sarah could only give him her best supportive smile.

"Oh, and she already has her eyes on someone else anyway." He continued before whispering to himself. "Way to go, Drew. You've really messed things up for yourself this time."

"Cheer up. You might still have a chance." the brunette said.

The mad genius got up from his bar stool and paid for his beverage. "Thanks for listening to me. I think I'll just go to bed." he told Sarah as he walked out into the hotel lobby.

"Oh, alright. Good night, Drew." she managed to utter before he was gone.

Racing down the last flight of stairs Shego ran down into the lobby, pushing a few people out of the way. "Dr. D!" she exclaimed, noticing Drakken coming out of the bar.

He jumped slightly when hearing her voice before he awkwardly made his way over. "Shego." he uttered, almost nervously acknowledging her presence.

"Doc, we need to talk." she told him.

"Actually I was on my way to my room. I need my sleep you know." he said, looking in the opposite direction.

"It's what, 3, 4 PM?" she pointed out.

He shrugged, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. "What's there to talk about?"

"Ya know." Shego sighed. "About the… thing."

"The thing?" the mad scientist wondered, looking at her questioningly. "You mean… _the_ thing? But, you said there was nothing to talk about. You said it didn't mean…"

"I know what I said." Shego interrupted. "Things have changed. Or, well, they haven't, but they seem a lot clearer now."

Drakken nodded in silence.

His assistant took a single, deep breath and continued. "I'm not really sure how to put this. I don't even really know what I wanna say. I mean, I know, I just can't seem to find the right words."

"What's this about?" he asked her.

"Well, you remember how I said I had my eye on a guy the other day, right?"

Again the villain nodded . "Sure. Tall, dark and handsome. Smart. Uhm, what else?"

"Big ego. Selfish. Inconsiderate. Basically a jerk at times."

"Right." Drakken agreed. "Yes, I remember."

"Yeah… I was kinda, sorta talkin' about _you_." Shego said, apparently looking down at his feet while talking to him. Drakken could tell she was having a hard time telling him this. A hard time trying not to blush.

"Me?" he croaked in what seemed like surprise. It took him a few seconds processing this new piece of information. "But Shego, no. That's not… I mean, I… and you…"

"Planning on making sense any time soon?"

Drakken blinked. At least she was still lippy. "Is this some kind of joke?" he asked. "Because it's not funny. I know I'm not exactly man of the year. You don't have to point it out by pulling my leg like this."

"I have to say, you're acting _pretty_ paranoid." his assistant told him, frowning.

"I'd rather be paranoid than gullible." He huffed. "Look, I've been rejected enough to know how it goes. Every time by someone barely half as beautiful as you. I have no intention of telling you yes just for you to laugh at me and throw it in my face."

Shego's frown deepened. "Drakken, listen to me."

"No!"

"Please."

"N… Wait, what?"

"Please." Shego repeated. "Just listen." She was still frowning, though she didn't look angry, or sad. She just looked like she really needed him to hear her out. The fact that she'd even uttered the word please again, twice, made Drakken stop and think.

"Alright. I'm listening." he replied after calming down.

"When I said the kiss was a mistake… I lied. I did it knowing full what I was actually doing. I kissed you not because I was in a drunken stupor, but because I…" She stopped and sighed before continuing. "Because I wanted to. You've been my best friend for years, Dr. D. The only stable thing in my life. You've given me a job, room and board. Lately I've just been missing something. I've been wanting, no needing… more, from you."

Drakken swallowed. He didn't know what to say. How to react. This was completely new territory to him.

"Dr. D?" Shego asked, snapping her fingers not an inch away from his face. "Ya in there?"

"You… really meant all that?" He asked, finally responding after snapping out of what seemed like a daze of sorts.

"Every word." His assistant replied. "And don't make me say them again."

"So… you really care about me?" The evil genius questioned, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Put it this way, doc. You know how I think and feel about my brothers, and I treat you better than them, don't I?"

"True." Drakken answered. "But what about the magazine?"

"Magazine?"

"You know, the magazine I borrowed… Oh, that's right." The madman gave a guilty smirk. "I took one from your room to use as reading material on this trip. A few of the articles looked interesting."

"You took something from my… fine. And?"

"Well there was this quiz you'd answered about what kind of guys you like. Your answers, I don't really fit the description of your dream guy. I mean, just look at me."

"Alright." Shego replied, looking him up and down. "I'm lookin'. Don't really know what I'm looking for…"

"Not funny, Shego." Drakken told her. "No, you answered that what you first notice about a guy is his body."

"Once again, and?" The villainess asked. "You're not ugly, Dr. D. You've got a nice body. You're no squirt, but you don't look like some bodybuilder on steroids either. You look good, doc."

"But in college…"

"Which was what, twenty years ago? You're not frail and gangly anymore. Just… trust me."

"Well… what about… You also want the guy to be sensitive." the blue skinned man quickly replied.

"And you must be just about the most sensitive guy I know of. Well, straight guy at least." Shego smirked. "You _are_ straight, aren't ya?"

"Of course I am!"

"Anything else?"

"You said I'm inconsiderate, and in the quiz…" Drakken managed to say before he was interrupted again.

"You are, but you _can_ be considerate. I think you could treat me a just a smidge better though. Ya know, like I'm more than just your assistant. I mean, sheesh doc, I even let you drag me along to karaoke night, and what do I get in return? Nothin'. Nada. Nil. Zip. Zilch. A big fat…"

"I get it!" It was Drakken's turn to interject. "Treat you better. I understand!"

"Good. That's all, right?" his sidekick wondered.

"Yes, I think so."

"Right."

The two villains both locked gazes with each other as an uncomfortable silence followed. Drakken swallowed. He wasn't sure what to do now. He could feel himself rubbing the back of his neck. It was a nervous habit he had, along with sucking on, or twiddling, his thumbs. The stillness was even more unnerving to Shego. She really felt like she either needed to do something, or at least pick the conversation back up, but before she could her boss asked yet another question.

"So, you really lied about the kiss?"

"Oh… Yeah."

"It wasn't just a drunken mistake?"

Shego shook her head. "No."

"You kissed me because…"

"I wanted to, yeah. I might've been drunk, but I still knew what I was doing."

"But, I mean…"

"I just told you I want a relationship beyond that of friendship, didn't I?" the villainess wondered.

Her employer blinked "Uh… Oh!"

"Doy! Duh!" she said, as the nervous and confused expression on Drakken's face turned back into the happy one he'd had just moments ago.

"I'd like that kind of relationship too."

"What about Sarah though?"  
"What about Sarah? She's a friend. Nothing more. Nothing less. You on the other hand, you're very dear to me, Shego."

By now a small crowd had gathered in the lobby, watching the drama unfold. The evil madman and his assistant suddenly realized they weren't alone. Some of the people were pointing and whispering. Others were just smiling. All of them were eagerly awaiting the blue man and green woman's next move.

"What?" Drakken asked, looking at them. "Go away! We're having a moment here."

Shego smirked. "See, I kinda like it when you get like this. Letting those numbskulls know we're not their personal entertainment."

"Well we're not. Don't they have other things to do than butt in on our very private conversation?"

The evil sidekick's smirk grew into a big grin as the crowd started to disperse. Dr. D was clearly starting to feel more at ease around her again. The tension was all but gone, and, in a way she was feeling, well, happy. "Still wanna go to bed?" she asked.

Drakken shook his head. "No, let's go get a cup of coffee instead. I'm feeling... talkative."

**THE END**


End file.
